Rahul Baba Chaalis Chor

The Congress spin doctors have tripped again. There was wide ranging feedback that Rahul Baba was being perceived as soft, a trifle daft and a little naive for the rough and tumble of Indian politics. Attempts to reach out to the masses were appearing way too incongruous for a chocolate faced youngster with characteristic Babalog demeanour. The solution was a hard-hitting press conference where Yuvraaj was to demonstrate his new found "political maturity". And what a mess!

The young AICC General Secretary sought to legitimise post-electoral promiscuity. As if driving home the absence of permanent political scruples was not bad enough, he naively sought to reach out to perceived fence sitting BJP allies by praising their governance in public! If coalition maneuveres could be achieved by appealing to egos thru press statements, an Amar Singh would have been unemployed long ago. In fact a young political scion with no administrative accomplishments under his belt sitting in judgement on stalwarts like Nitish and Chandrababu would have actually offended them. Even the left snubbed him publicly and the Baba's image managers must be licking their wounds while strategizing their next disaster.

My unsolicited advice to Rahul Baba would be to shed the apprehension of losing a few small battles to win the war. Contesting elections from the comfort of the family pocket burrough, shying away from ministerial responsibility for fear of a public expose' of incompetence and resorting to one-way press conferences as opposed to televised debates will keep you perpetually in boyhood. Currently even a lightweight like Ravi Shankar Prasad may perhaps knock you out in 23 seconds but it is important to stoop to conquer. Coming a cropper in televised debates will prepare you for more impactful and relevant debates in Parliament. Warm-up games don't matter. The Big Match does.

Your cronies may ill-advise you that the crown-prince does not level with his lowly subjects but history is replete with examples to the contrary. Should you fail to deliver as a minister, the lessons learnt will hold you in good stead for the eventual top job that your family party is bound to confer upon you whenever it has electoral tailwinds. The nation cannot afford to experience incompetence in the top job (again!) . Post independence, your grandmother has been the single most important political figure in the country. Her lack of concrete and commensurate contribution notwithstanding, she was strengthened by every defeat (political, legal or electoral). Sad to see you enveloped in escapism as opposed to grabbing opportunity with both hands. But then, some things never change. Primacy of THE Family and Power of the Coterie are 2 such permanent features of the Congress. Wish the same could be said of their alliance scruples.