Rahul Gandhi - Withdrawal Symptoms

“He has leadership and it is evolving. Rahul does not need to grab power." Digvijaya, in an interview to Headlines Today Executive Editor Rahul Kanwal. Kanwal didn’t ask Digvijay an important question about his comment on RG. A few months ago, on Rahul Gandhi’s birthday in June, Digvijay Singh had declared “I think it is time Rahul becomes the Prime Minister”. Secondly, no one has accused RG of trying to grab power. So why the defence by Digvijay? Even if his cronies, like Digvijay don’t tell him, I am quite certain RG is aware of the many nicknames he has earned. Here are a few: Pappu, Babloo, Amul Baby, Buddhu, RahulRetard, OwlGandhi, ClownPrince and the list could go on. I doubt any ‘evolving leader’ has earned so many titles in a short time. Sure, simply dismiss those people as ones who just hate RG. The carefully crafted media plan and that of the Congress slaves of the dynasty is slowly coming undone. Ever since the mounds of ash and dead bodies of Bhatta Parsaul Rahul Gandhi is, in reality, running from his own shadow. And if Rahul Gandhi does have his ‘own mind’ why does someone like Digvijay have to speak for him so often? Far from ‘Rahul evolving’ there is evidence of withdrawal symptoms. 

The SpiceGirls, a girl-band of the UK, churned out hit after hit during 1996-97 and had become a rage. Britain, devoid of any great accomplishments in recent history, used marketing as a tool to promote personalities. Even David Beckham the footballer fumbled at major events prompting some commentators to bestow him the title “Anna Kournikova of football”. But Beckham did have talent and great performances to back him. What about the SpiceGirls? Well, the first time they went on stage live the crowds discovered the girls couldn’t really sing all that well. They came crashing. They were just studio-creations and not real singers. The media marketing blitz came crashing too. I would liken Rahul Gandhi to the case of SpiceGirls or AnnaKournikova, too much hype by the media and his supporters but lacking in real substance. Rahul Gandhi is, very much, the Anna Kournikova of Indian politics.

 

Ever since his dramatic Bhatta Parsaul discoveries of mounds of ash and dead bodies RG went into hiding for a while, only to resurface during Anna Hazare’s fast in August 2011. (Lately, Congress channel NDTV is desperate to prove he was right.)While the Anna agitation was proving to be a thorn our evolving leader rushes off to meet victims of police firing near Pune. Not a bad idea but the only response he has to Anna’s agitation is a written speech during zero hour in the parliament. He sought constitutional status for the Lokpal. That’s not all, he patted himself by calling it a “game-changer”. That was humility! Hahaha! Having seen the goof up the Congress ministers, like Salman Khurshid, somehow now want to shore up the ‘great vision' of RG in turning the Lokpal into a constitutional authority.

If at 41 RG is still evolving then I have to wonder when he will mature. There have been at least six or seven people who have been prime ministers or presidents around RG’s age, including his own father. For the record, William Pitt (The younger) was the youngest PM of the UK at age 24. Not just that, Pitt went on to be PM for 17 years. What does it say about a man about whom someone like Renuka Chaudhary, Congress spokesperson, had to say that “he is not a parrot”! He runs around schools and colleges and talks to students where cameras and media are banned. He suddenly dashes off to trouble spots like Bharatpur to sympathise with riot victims, sometimes wearing a skull cap.And the only channel that seems to be allowed to cover him is NDTV. His Bharatpur visit was shown on NDTV in grainy mobile videos. Later his stunt on a Delhi metro train and taxi ride was also reported on NDTV. So he even gets to pick the media he likes and is friendly to him. Evolving connectivity, I suppose!

Someone mentioned RG had a drug addiction problem and Tehelka even defended it. Yes, people do make mistakes. But it’s how they handle responsibility that counts. And what exactly is RG’s responsibility. Failed in Bihar, failed in Tamil Nadu, did he own up to any responsibility? Bihar is all the more shocking where his campaign leadership not only resulted in a severe loss but more or less wiped out his party. And reading written down speeches (God knows who writes those) without having to do a Q&A after it is a reflection of a person who does not have the slightest conviction in what he’s talking about.

Following the Anna agitation and Team Anna’s promised campaign against Congress in the Hisar bypoll one would have expected a leader to stand up and fight. What does RG do? He rushes off to Jhansi, for heaven knows why, and meets up with a Dalit family for dinner. You have an election battle that is being rated as a decisive bypoll and RG is nowhere to be seen. It’s not a shame to lose an election battle. It’s a shame to not even put up a fight by the so called evolving leader. And Hisar isn’t very far from Delhi either.The fear of failure is a serious withdrawal symptom in any supposed leader, even 'evolving' ones.

TOI in an article states (Oct 24): “It has now emerged that Rahul was at least partly responsible for the PM's insistence that Union ministers' spouses and children should also disclose their assets”. That is nice, it’s not as if RG does not have good intentions, it is just that he doesn’t have the talent or the courage to take issues head on. And whenever he speaks impromptu he betrays a severe lack of knowledge and intelligence. The more his gaffes are exposed the more he shrinks into a shell. The letter about family disclosing assets should have been extended further to include his own – Robert Vadra. The phenomenal rise in the reported wealth of Vadra surely does not seem to be mere business acumen.

If the Bhatta Parsaul comedy wasn’t enough, RG had to face some more sordid moments in front of cameras. His visit to the RML hospital after the Delhi HC blast on September 7 gave him a taste of something he had never experienced before – heckling and booing. Even though he might have been genuinely concerned for victims of the blast he has been so cocooned that he doesn’t learn how angry people are at his party. His own silly statements of RSS=SIMI etc., tutored by his mentor, reflect his thoughtlessness on issues of terrorism and suffering. Prior to the Delhi blast his "99% terror attacks averted" statement after the Mumbai blast was another instance of stupidity and bad timing, if not ill-intentioned.

Last week RG also gave a speech on globalisation. This was at an event at ‘Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies’. The speech sounds like a cross between Arundhati Roy and Aruna Roy. “There was only one India 60 years ago and it was poor. That India was completely unconnected, both internally and externally. But India today has changed and is changing as we speak” said Gandhi. This reflects very poor understanding of history itself. There were rich people, very rich people, even 60 years ago as there were poor. There were zamindars, nizams, businessmen. The thought and longing from freedom from the British connected many Indians. If there is one party to be held responsible for damaging the aspirations of a free India it has to be the Congress. Why? Because for most part it was Congress that was dividing the nation at every single opportunity. The two Indias, which is RG’s pet theory, is a creation of his own party. What does it say about a two bit man-child who runs off to some European location to celebrate his birthday? If anyone has to introspect it has to be the Congress and not the people. In July 2011 RG is reported to have stated that “UP is being run by Dalals”. Hmm! Who’s running the Congress?

One of the funny reports about RG’s speech last week comes from SunetraChoudhury. “To find out this somewhat inane fact (Blackberry addiction), I, along with journalists representing all major news organisations, had to pass through an obstacle course that included arriving more than an hour before the event, being separated from all our own communication devices, and then sitting through long, academic lectures. Yes, us foolish hacks did all this to hear the elusive Gandhi express his views on some of the urgent issues facing the nation, but all we got was a balcony view of Gandhi toying with his phone and sneaking glances at it while others were speaking……The argument that his supporters and Congressmen make is that it is real India that matters and its voters are the ones that the UPA government needs to engage with. So does that mean the people who came from Ralegan Siddhi weren’t from the real India? Is that why the villagers, who announced their intention to meet Gandhi days before, were humiliated till the last minute? Gandhi’s office simply said that no appointment had been granted to them so there was no question of an audience. But don’t they get the ridiculousness of asking villagers to get an appointment?” Withdrawal!

The ridiculous incident with the Sarpanch and villagers of Ralegan Siddhi says it all about his connection with rural India. As far as I can see the behavioral patterns of RG are not of one who has evolved as a leader or whose understanding of issues has evolved into a direction or vision. He only seems to have developed serious withdrawal symptoms from real issues and is happy to read out speeches written by others. Maybe his mother’s illness has some influence on that. But clearly this is a man who cannot face any challenges and is unfit for any leadership role. If there was a title I would bestow upon him it would probably be Miss ‘Hit and Run’. A man who cannot honestly reform his own corrupt party can hardly be expected to handle a nation or international issues. He was heckled and faced protests in own constituency of Amethi during a recent visit. That done, he can now withdraw to a Dalit dinner in some corner of one of the Indias.

Sunetra Choudhury & NDTV's Honour

In January 2011 NDTV carried a recruitment ad in newspapers - Train with the best. The line below the picture reads: "Train with those who have made the news for 22 years. Enroll as an apprentice with the NDTV Broadcast Training Programme."

Train with the best! The more I think of that line it makes me laugh and wonder if there are any journalistic principles left at NDTV at all. What does one say of a TV channel one of whose prominent journalists goes around writing articles in some newspaper grieving over her experience at the hands of a UPA politician who seems to have insulted her modesty with sexual comments.  I am not one to dictate what NDTV should report but ideally a report on the issue should have read like this from NDTV itself:

“NDTV is shocked to report the behaviour of UPA’s Mr. Perv who had the audacity to insult the modesty of one its female journalists with sexual comments. We consider this behaviour outrageous and have filed a complaint with the NCW and the Ministry of I&B and have demanded strong action. We choose not to disclose the name of the journalist to protect her privacy and self-respect but will not rest till this politician is arrested and prosecuted. We would like viewers to know that this politician has a history of such behaviour and it’s time to put such people out of business”. But sorry, that was never heard on that channel.

Instead, Sunetra Choudhury, the NDTV journalist involved in the incident had to write an article in DNA (July 10) newspaper about her plight called  “Pervy Politician needs to get his act together”. One can sympathise with her plight but once again it is the victim whose identity is in the open while the offender remains shrouded in secrecy and open to guess work. Not that it requires too much of smart guess work either. Prior to the DNA article she had already tweeted about her long wait to meet this politician and how the babus around were busy watching Rakhee Sawant on TV. The article received some tweets and comments in response and Choudhury went on leave. But here’s an interesting excerpt from her article:

“Now, unlike many other journalists, I am not on back-slapping terms with any politician, least of all this one. I had heard that this one liked the ladies, but had never experienced his glad eye. I don’t know whether I was too focussed on getting my interview, or whether I was so relieved that I wouldn’t have to hear my editor banging on about not getting it, that I actually laughed at this comment, noticing in the midst of this giggle, that my colleague’s eyebrows had touched his receding hairline. I got my interview and was also regaled by the pervy politician’s other stories — how he would go to an unsavoury politician’s party because he got lots of women to show their legs and cleavage, how some woman danced the kamasutra dance for him and other lascivious tales…”

I have to assume that Barkha Dutt, as group editor of NDTV, would be Sunetra’s boss. Sort of explains the relief she talks about. Next, read the line closely where she says “unlike many other journalists, I am not on back-slapping terms with any politician”. There’s your probable reason why neither NDTV nor any other prominent journalist has stood up for her or backed her to have the culprit named and punished. I have good reason to believe that the line also talks about journalistic culture at NDTV since Sunetra would clearly know more about the equations of her own peers at NDTV with politicians rather than other journalists at other channels. I am sure if Sunetra reads this line of hers again she will realise she has unwittingly exposed most media celebrities and the doctored news they peddle or how they crawl up to their political bosses. Her article seems to contain a few hints that could identify the offender.

She further writes about another colleague of hers:  “Isn’t that why my colleague was stalked with text messages from a cabinet minister and still felt hesitant to complain?” And yes, in case you forgot NDTV’s tagline, it is “Experience Truth, first”

In contrast Sunetra’s boss, Barkha, couldn’t stomach even strong and fair criticism by a blogger. (“Shoddy Journalism” by Chaitanya Kunte on Barkha Dutt’s 26/11 coverage). NDTV initiated legal action against the blogger to pull that article and render an apology. Again, when Radiagate broke with Barkha Dutt accused of involvement in power-broking she and NDTV threatened “appropriate action” against Manu Joseph’s Open magazine. Ever since it has been downhill for NDTV and I am surprised this channel even survives. I believe any other journalist in Barkha’s place would have been fired. Train with the best! Indeed!

People were just about starting to get past the incident when Sunetra Choudhury put out another article after two weeks in DNA (July 24). This time it is some sort of justification for “Why I did not name ‘Mr Pervy Politician”. But though she’s a victim the points in her second article make sorry reading. She may have had many responses from people but her justification seems somewhat unjustified. Here are some points she makes:

“I realised from the overwhelming response how it wasn’t about me but about lakhs of people who form half of our workforce…” For a start, I don’t think many of those lakhs of people are really in as powerful a position as a journalist from a TV channel is. I doubt DNA or any other newspaper would give those people an inch to write about their experience.  I am a bit surprised Sunetra cannot see this difference. There is a reason those lakhs of people are expecting a different response from her.

“I didn’t know how to tell all of them that this ‘Pervy Politician’ was just one of the many I had encountered, and so I felt it was a bit unfair that I should out just him. I didn’t know how to tell them that some of the others had been much worse, and I was lucky that I didn’t feel too scarred by any of them, but I knew many women who probably were, and didn’t have the space to express themselves..” That doesn’t seem to be sound logic. That it would be unfair to previous offenders she had encountered if she had outed this man. Go ahead, out them all. Furthermore, it hardly does anything for the many other women who she implies were ‘scarred’ by such experiences. And the worst part is, it also clearly indicates that this wasn’t her first experience and she has suffered this silently all this while. Here’s the dangerous part – by logic and implication it also indicates that she may take future incidents of this nature in her stride too. Why is NDTV silent on all of this? Is this some private matter of their journalist and not something she encountered in her line of duty?

Sunetra then talks about a sexual harassment panel for such experiences. “My organisation does have one of those, as a matter of fact, and it is a fairly active panel as well…..I just want to point out that I didn’t even take this ‘Pervy Politician’ issue to my editors and they would have read about it like everybody else did. I wasn’t hiding anything, it’s just that, at the time, I was too busy doing my work to report anything else”. These are really stunning revelations. NDTV has a sexual harassment panel but she couldn’t or didn’t take it up with them? And that her editors would have heard of the incident just like everybody else from her DNA article? What is amazing is that for an incident that rankles so much she even says she was too busy doing her work to report anything else. Well, if a few days later if it was worth taking up and writing in DNA why not take it up with the NDTV panel as well?

Alright, she says she didn’t take it up with her editors. Well, after her first article on July 10 did her editors call her and ask her about the incident? Did they say they are going to take some action? One can safely presume there might have been a discussion on it between NDTV and Sunetra. My expectations of NDTV are very low, but surely, even at NDTV editors can’t be that dumb to notice a sensational article by one of their journalists and simply not even talk about it. Was that the case? She says even politicians called her and offered help. Nobody from NDTV or the NDTV sexual harassment panel called up? Surely, if not the name of the offender, Sunetra must reveal how her organisation responded. Else this saga of working in one media outlet and complaining in another can be seen from many different angles.

Sunetra doesn’t want to name the offender but at the end of the article she leaves you with what looks like another hint: “I should mention that I’m probably going to be bumping into the perv soon. It’s inevitable with me being a political journalist, isn’t it? There’s a planned public event where he’s slotted to appear and I admit, that there’s a part of me that’s very scared about meeting him again. But then I remind myself, I have done nothing wrong and if anything, it’s the perv who should be hiding, not me”. Well, if that perv is going about public events like a routine it doesn’t seem like he’s hiding or even about to hide. Sunetra is currently on holiday since her first article in DNA. If and when she returns let’s see what happens to this whole episode. If she is scared of meeting this politician again as she has stated it is clearly time NDTV realised what they are putting their journalist through.

And what can I say about NDTV? Train with the best? Experience truth, first? Perversion of truth? In her latest article on Hindustan Times website Barkha Dutt quotes The Gita line “dishonour is worse than death”! NDTV should know all about dishonour, I suppose.