Opinion: Rahul Gandhi leaning towards mild Hindutva platform. And it might help Congress

After the poll planks of Shiv Bhakt and Janeu Dhari Hindu, it is quite evident that Congress has been slightly leaning towards a mild Hindutva platform. It will be historic for a party whose poll equation starts from Dalit-OBCs and ends up wooing the Muslims. Congress never tried to take Hindus as whole in their account. BJP was never shy to carry Hindutva tag but Congress distanced itself whenever they were caught doing minority appeasement. And during this high potential elections, the newly-elected president of the Grand Old Party is playing a mild Hindu card beyond Dalits and OBCs and started taking intrest in upper castes like Patidars in Gujarat and Brahmin-Thakurs in Himachal Pradesh.

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As an old saying goes "Diamond cuts diamond", perhaps this political technique of Rahul Gandhi may stand against the Hindutva mindset of RSS-BJP. Lots of political analysts and Congress leaning journalists who are acknowledging a sudden maturity in Rahul Gandhi think that this poll plank may add a feather in Rahul's hat. General people on the ground in Gujarat and especially the Patidars exclusively believe in Hindutva. So this electoral tool of Hinduism might woo Hindutva. In fact they would receive vote chunk from every caste instead of a particular one. The self-styled godmans and other religious yogis who have infuence in Indian political mandate won't neglect Congress because they are Muslim-only appeasers. The Hindus from states other than Gujarat might get good impression from this gesture of Rahul Gandhi. So called secular ideologues had once appreciated Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan for contributing in works of Hinduism (not Hindutva) so they might praise Mr Gandhi in the same fashion. Muslim appeasement was once the medium of Congress to show that they are secular. It is very astonishing that finally Congress realised that Muslim appeasement and this secularism won't be a lifeboat for them. Muslims Tribals-Dalits hate Hindutva put forth by BJP-RSS, but they may be comfortable with this mild Hindu card played by the Grand Old Party. The best or worst part in Indian politics is, that Indian voter doesn't care about a political trend of a party in other state i.e. a voter in Karnataka won't carry what Rahul Gandhi says in Gujarat. Moreover, the public memory is very short and weak. So that is why the people in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh, where elections are coming, voters wouldn't mind this mild Hindu card. Well the best thing which I see is that Congress party till recent years used to think that going to temples and talking on behalf of upper classes is a part of communal agenda. Now the eyes of Congress seem to have opened and leaned towards realism rather than cloud of just rationalism. Overall, this move of Congress would not only help the Grand Old Party to remove its Muslim-only tag but also would help to improve realistic upbringing in Indian politics.

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In today's political phase, India needs a strong opposition having a centrist ideology which identifies state and religion as different entities. So the opposition needs to be far secular i.e. 'Empowerment of all and Appeasement of none'. But the current move of 132-year-old party has an opposite ideology i.e. 'Empowerment of none but appeasement of all'. This poll plank would definitely hurt our current politics. It's a matter of great debate whether the political parties should amend their ideologies in time now. I won't say what Indian political ideologies should generally do, but on this right leaned political pitch, the original centre-left Congress is the only party competent to do proper bowling. The original Congress of Gandhian ideology would propose 'Religion neutral, Caste neutral, only Indianity' concept which is needed right now, but unfortunately Congress seems to have forgot Congress! I urge Sashi Tharoor Sir to remind their newly elected (nominated) president, about what original Congress stand for.

Rahul Gandhi needs to be reminded that Hindutva is the last thing that a BJP voter wants. The thing which elevated Chief Minister Narendra Modi to Prime Minister of world's largest democracy isn't actually his Hindutva background. Moreover, if there would be any shameful and genuine incident of threat on minorities then it would be impossible for the Grand old Party to present its stance before the nation. Even if a voter wants to vote for rhetoric of Hindutva then Congress is less likely to be first option for him. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also ridiculed this move of Congress and said that people would vote for original rather than a clone. Congress is questioning the incumbent government very properly, but at the same time, they need to put forth a socio-economic model before the people which have capability to stand before the economic pitches of PM Narendra Modi. Congress still has a chance, but they need to work too hard to achieve even 30 per cent of what those guys hope and quote.

(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity)