Rahul Gandhi’s American Yatra: A Howdy Modi moment

You’ve got to hand it to him: The man is a wit. And it is this fondness for speaking off-the-cuff that both charms his audience and complicates his life. Already, his crack about why “all thieves have Modi as [their] common surname” has earned him a banishment from Parliament. Rahul Gandhi’s heritage is, of course, a very serious one, the stuff of legend. I recall sitting on my own father’s shoulders on Rajpath as Rahul’s great-grandfather’s body was taken by a gun carriage to the cremation grounds — one of my earliest memories. I recall pinning my long hair behind my ears and pinning down my bell-bottom pants to avoid attracting attention from the Delhi police during the Emergency imposed by his grandmother. I can recall where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news of his grandmother’s assassination. I recall the numerous calls to Sikh friends as they and their families lived in terror for months afterwards. I recall the unimaginable second assassination, this time of Rahul’s father seven years later.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during an interaction with the Indian diaspora, in San Francisco, USA. (PTI)

But Rahul Gandhi himself had forever remained an enigma. He and I had even worked together at the same firm many years ago — but I never knew who he was; he used a pseudonym back then and looked nothing like the little boy in photographs. In 2013, prior to a pivotal election, he spoke of the energies of rivers, beehives, a thirty-six-hour train ride with optimists heading from dusty Gorakhpur to glittery Mumbai — “long on imagery and anecdotes but short on specifics”, according to news coverage. And then, more recently, he had been Pappu-fied and endlessly ridiculed. And earlier this year, periodically, television channels would show him with curly locks and ever-lengthening whiskers and a band of disciples in tow, walking — and walking. It just wasn’t clear if he was going anywhere.

Of course, with another pivotal election coming up, with wind on his back from Karnataka, when Rahul Gandhi showed up in the US this month, I thought I would take the time to listen — conveniently, on YouTube. He kept his speeches reasonably short, with simple messaging, delivered without notes or drowning the audience with wonk-talk. He pauses after every other word, as if to think it through, almost as if he is conscious of keeping that infamous wit in check. He was eager to take questions and have a conversation with no handlers to manage optics or corral the wit. He handled himself with humility and, for a politician with famously political DNA, was willing to say that the concerns of politicians are too often divorced from the concerns of people.

I liked his leitmotif of tolerance and inclusion across religious, gender and language boundaries. “You can cut hatred with love and affection,” may sound fluffy but he seemed to have tapped into his inner Martin Luther King Jr, who had said in one of his more famous sermons, “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that”.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses Indian diaspora at an event in New York. (PTI)

I liked his distinction between force and power. It seemed to draw directly from Gandhi (y’know, that other one). It was unclear, though, what kind of Gandhian power Rahul Gandhi wishes to draw upon: “Power based on love” or “anger controlled can be transmuted into a power which can move the world.” His demeanour suggests a certain calmness incapable of anger, even of the controlled kind. So, I guess we are back to “love” — much needed in a country that has slipped steadily in the Freedom House score of democracy and tolerance.

I thought he was astute in noting that India has one of the world’s biggest reservoirs of a very valuable form of “people’s wealth”: Data, to be treated with care and vision. It is timely, as India’s breakthroughs in digital public infrastructure and securing that data are being closely studied by others around the world. I also thought he made a forceful case for going beyond the data itself and investing in the engine, the AI capabilities, that can harness this valuable resource.

Speaking of investing in the engine, he made the case for manufacturing as the inescapable engine for job creation. But that isn’t a novel idea. He didn’t share any specific plans for overhauling the current engine that is still sputtering. The horrendous Odisha railway disaster is a tragic reminder of work that remains in ensuring the country’s basic infrastructure works; now, more than ever, it is time for specifics. Speaking of the need for specifics, I missed concrete proposals for addressing India’s challenges in education, healthcare, jobs, and declining environmental quality. So, he has some homework to do.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrives in San Francisco, USA. (PTI)

I found Rahul Gandhi’s observations on foreign policy less compelling. While he said that it was unacceptable that “China is occupying our territory,” it was hard to tell how he would do things differently. On the Ukraine war, his position seemed indistinguishable from the status quo: Maintain the neutral stance. I disagree. No matter how much national self-interest drives you, one cannot remain neutral on an unjust and cruel invasion.

Overall, while Rahul Gandhi’s visit did feel like an arthouse film by a Mrinal Sen acolyte that plays before the Bollywood blockbuster comes to town later this month in the form of the Modi state visit, I came away feeling that Rahul Gandhi’s American Yatra humanised the enigma. He would pass the “will have a beer with him” test that many in the US feel is the ultimate measure of an acceptable politician (yes, I speak figuratively, as in India, being caught with a beer on Instagram could end a man’s political career).

Whether one is a supporter of the Modi team or of the alternatives, if you are a supporter of democracy, you would not want India to be trapped in TINA (there-is-no-alternative) land. A country of 1.4 billion needs more than a single option at the ballot box.

I was left with several questions. Can Rahul Gandhi mobilise an effective national campaign? Can he form a coalition? Can he energise the crowds and get past the urbane enclaves? Can he finally go long on specifics and reign in his imagery and anecdotes — and yes, hold off on the wit till after the election? Can he overcome the legal restrictions on running for election?

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during an event, in Washington. (PTI)

The visit did help me overcome my aversion to turning back to a dynasty. I felt there was a real person behind the curtain. Whether his phone is tapped or not, Rahul Gandhi can expect to get a few more people asking for his number.

It wasn’t quite Howdy Rahul, but the visit felt like a genuine hello. And a hello is a fine place to restart from where he has been stuck since 2013.

The writer is Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, founding executive director of Fletcher’s Institute for Business in the Global Context. He is the author of ‘The Slow Pace of Fast Change’