Digvijay Singh and his protege Rahul baba

Is Rahul baba as stupid as he seems to be ? First, he condones his pal Omar Abdullah as only a youngster, and therefore not to be blamed for the debacle in Kashmir. Now, he comes out swinging against the RSS and brackets it with the SIMI(the Student Islamic Movement of India) the latter by now discredited as a quasi terrorist outfit, with links to terrorist outfits outside of India, and clearly an anti national body. And furthermore proscribed by the government of India.

The eloquent Ram Madhav of the RSS lost no time in calling this not too bright young man (or not so young any longer at 40 !)  a secular fundamentalist and worse, not well informed about Bharat’s history. And then, Digvijay Singh enters the fray not too pleased with his protégé’s performance, but has to defend him, in the robot style manner that is his signature.

The RSS, he says .does not need to lecture anyone on Bharat’s culture and history and
so on. The Congress is going to have a difficult time projecting Rahul baba as their next candidate for the PM’s post. Can Sonia Gandhi and her advisors pull it off ?

It is possible that Digvijay Singh is not too unhappy with lining up for the post himself. Since he is close to the President of the Congress, it is imperative to play the role of Courtier. But should Sonia’s star wane he would not hesitate to dump his  protégé and move forward.

Meanwhile there are some commentators who believe that Rahul’s Inspector Clouseau  bungling and blundering act is only a façade and that indeed he is a deep thinker who is
cashing in on being part of the so called ‘dynasty’, that he is a danger to the country.  From time to time he makes coy statements about his lack of interest in the job. His most recent precious statement was that he is really not about the Congress Party, he is simply a youth worker and so on !

If these analysts are right then the BJP should indeed watch out. Already there were allegations  a few weeks ago that he was involved with the Commonwealth Games scam. More skeletons will be falling out of the cupboard if he goes too far with his games of taking on the RSS. And it will not be just him but also others close to him.

At that stage the country will no longer be impressed by his dimpled charm (which has already started to fade)and serious questions will begin to be asked about the mother son duo. This might indeed be Digvijay Singh’s cue, although right now he is still playing the Royal courtier.

If Digvijay Singh is serious about his protégé, he should do the following. Advise Rahul baba to keep up the Clouseau style act, but not get too carried away by his success and take on the RSS. The latter is a serious nationalist organization with a great deal of experience behind it. To bracket it as fundamentalist along with a quasi terrorist organization is something the country will not buy.

What about the nation ?  Well it has a choice between three people: the courtier with a glint in his eye, the not so young blundering politician and the deep thinker.

(The writer is a Political Scientist who taught at a Canadian university).

Responses