With Bharat Jodo, Rahul made a good beginning

"I could walk a thousand miles for a moment like this," tweets Rahul Gandhi lifting a girl child during his ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra.

In another social media post, RaGa walks with slain journalist Gauri Lankesh's family, and says: "Gauri stood for Truth; Gauri stood for Courage; Gauri stood for Freedom. I stand for Gauri Lankesh and countless others like her, who represent the true spirit of India. Bharat Jodo Yatra is their voice. It can never be silenced."

"The politics of hatred can be challenged by Rahul Gandhi through this Yatra," tweets Aaron Mathew.

"Finally, this is a Rahul Gandhi that India can relate to," writes veteran journalist Vir Sanghvi in a column.

Then there is a series of trolls on Rahul's Bharat Jodo march launched on September 7. Now the nation is told that the march or padayatra is creating ripples. It is getting popular and people are joining Rahul en-route. When it ends, it may or may not have created any dramatic impact to convert the interest into votes. But his opposition, the ruling top brass, has already begun to not just sit up and think but seriously to counter the Bharat Jodo ripples. Consider these developments. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been intensely visiting poll- bound Gujarat and announcing infrastructure projects worth thousands of crores of rupees. Amit Shah was in the North-East, and earlier in Telangana, deriding the Congress and TRS and promising a golden era under the BJP.

Take any BJP minister or leader, their talk of what happened in the last eight years is very common rather than what the Nation achieved in the earlier 68 years. The only time, probably, the Prime Minister did not refer to 'nil' work under the Congress rule and tonnes of work after 2014 was when he spoke about the Indian Air Force. He said: "In line with its motto, the Indian Air Force has shown exceptional dexterity for decades. They have secured the nation and also shown remarkable human spirit during disasters."

In his Diamond Jubilee Independence Day speech, Modi derided the dynastic rule as a follow-up of his Congress-mukt Bharat campaign. Of late, the massive investments planned, large number of jobs being generated and the PM Garib Kalyan yojana form the themes for the Modi talk. Remember, Rahul asked: 'where the jobs are that Modi had promised.'

If some columnists or independent writers say that Rahul is making waves, we have Modi telling his audience in Himachal Pradesh and of course the nation with the live telecasts that "I have planned this, I have done that". In more than one way, this is reminiscent of what happened during Indira Gandhi's rule which my generation of journalists covered. Khushwant Singh referred to Indira as the only man in the Cabinet.

Now, we have minister after minister repeatedly saying 'under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi'. That may be fine. But the man himself saying, 'I have done it' is tad too much. As a media person who has seen and covered the functioning of the government, we know how the schemes are planned, financed and implemented. As long as there is no one to question or counter "Modi Modi" chorus, this tendency will continue. Some call it elected dictatorship.

Meanwhile, the Congress is trying to change the image of being a party of dictators with the organisational elections which Rahul proposed long ago and could not push through. The party affairs are being looked after by committees nominated by the president or acting president. That was mainly because Rahul never showed any seriousness to be head of the party and a strong opposition voice.

Can we say now, Rahul the serious politician whose time has come? Well, much will depend on how seriously he continues the Bharat Jodo march and conducts himself with equal seriousness after that. He has also created an impression that he spends more time abroad than in India. The way he took off in the midst of the party leaders' talks with poll strategist Prashant Kishor has taken away the last element of seriousness about Rahul. One anti-RaGa man even tweeted recently that this (the Bharat Jodo period) is the longest time that Rahul spent in India!

Going by non-BJP-supportive media, Rahul seems to be a changed man -mingling with people, workers, respecting elders, having full-on fun with kids and making hard hitting speeches. His social media team doing a fairly good job informing the nation on the 'pilgrim's progress'. The small success should not go to anyone's head. This should be treated only as a small step towards the big show of 2024. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, the entire BJP machinery is already geared up for the show '24. The Congress has begun, so to say, with its Kanyakumari to Kashmir Yatra. The world's largest political party has equally the largest resources at its feet. The Grand Old Party of India may not have inherited rich resources form its grandparents. Hence, it has to regroup itself and put up some opposition managing withing the available resources. It is always easy to abandon a sinking ship, but daunting to prevent it from going down and to keep it afloat.

The next Congress president – whether it is Mallikarjun Kharge or Shashi Tharoor – will have difficult twin tasks – of keeping the flock together and using the seriousness of Rahul Gandhi as the launch pad for the party to bounce back. The Yatra looks very well organised with a dedicated website which carries all updates, pictures and videos, mobilisation of volunteers en route above all demonstrating a lot of energy. I have been watching the updates on Congress as well as the independent media. I can definitely say, the man whom the BJP brushed off as a Pappu, is a force to reckon with. The way the BJP will continue to get aggressive with the Congress' first family will the proof of what I am saying now. The BJP, more than the Congress, is keeping a close watch on Bharat Jodo and they will give more updates than the Congress!

Finally, Rahul and Congress, you have made a good beginning; Keep up the good show in the interest of democracy. We need a strong opposition- not the party that disrupts Parliament or blocks traffic inconveniencing the people, but the one which is capable of keeping a serious track of the government to ensure good governance and ensuring that the taxpayers' money is well spent and making full use of the Parliamentary proceedings and demonstrate that they mean business, serious business.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based media veteran known for his thought-provoking messaging)