E-Paper
Rahul Gandhi, President, Indian National Congress: The Challenger
The year 2018 will be widely considered as the year when Rahul Gandhi truly emerged as India’s principal opposition leader. It is the year in which he has both waged an aggressive campaign against one of India’s most powerful governments, as well as given shape to a new Congress.
The year 2018 will be widely considered as the year when Rahul Gandhi truly emerged as India’s principal opposition leader. It is the year in which he has both waged an aggressive campaign against one of India’s most powerful governments, as well as given shape to a new Congress.
From leading a vigorous election campaign in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, to steering his party to important by-election victories, displaying remarkably sharp political thinking to form an alliance in Karnataka, and reaching out across political lines to establish the idea of Grand Alliance, Gandhi has led from the front.
The Congress president has demolished attempts to caricature him, and has forced the government to take his party seriously, despite its depleted parliamentary presence. The 48-year-old has also reshaped the party by taking the old guard along, yet effecting a quiet generational transformation, giving responsibilities to younger leaders in key states, and creating and energising new departments that would add to election capabilities. As next year’s Lok Sabha elections approach, Gandhi has emerged as a key political challenger.
