Why Rahul’s visit to Vajpayee memorial sent BJP into a tizzy

Strangely, the upshot of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s stopover in Delhi through his Bharat Jodo Yatra has turned out to be his visit to the samadhi or memorial of the first BJP Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. Rahul paid his respects on December 26 to yesteryear’s BJP stalwart who led the country as PM for six years. This was a day after Vajpayee’s 98th birth anniversary was observed on Sunday as Governance Day in Delhi and elsewhere in the country.

The Congress MP also bowed before the nearby similar memorials of other former Prime Ministers, including Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Chaudhary Charan Singh, and Rajiv Gandhi. That was apart from him paying obeisance at the Rajghat resting place of Mahatma Gandhi and also that of Congress’ Dalit icon and former Deputy Prime Minister, Babu Jagjivan Ram.

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Nestling on the forlorn banks of Yamuna, these virtual God’s acres might seldom before have seen a single person trudging along the listless river on the same day to show similar or equal reverence to so many souls who shaped what India is today. Yet, Rahul’s call to the spot that marks the end of Vajpayee’s long journey starting since before Independence stands out amid the litany of homages he offered on Monday to so many illustrious sons and an equally remarkable daughter of India.

Defeating hate with love

Rahul’s visit to Vajpayee’s sepulchre stands as much apart, or maybe even more, as was once his attempt to hug Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Over four years ago, Modi did not return the gesture, and Rahul had to return to his seat in Parliament, leaving the entire House stunned. Rahul was generally criticised, and never or hardly appreciated by anyone, for what he did towards the end of a heated debate over a motion of no-confidence against the Modi government, though Rahul’s refrain was that he believed in overcoming hate with love.

Similar is the Congress’ justification for the tributes offered by Rahul to Vajpayee on a chilly winter morning, though the Congress leader is the first from the party’s top ranks to have so far visited the BJP leader’s samadhi. Rahul’s donning a white T-shirt, along with a seemingly non-woollen black trouser, for the occasion has also raised eyebrows. Congress higher-ups have tried to attribute this to Rahul’s simplicity and hermit-like devotion to his Bharat Jodo odyssey. Sartorially, there has been a sea of differences between Rahul and Modi. The latter was well draped for winters when he visited Vajpayee’s samadhi a day before Rahul. And so were Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president JP Nadda who accompanied Modi to the samadhi on Sunday morning.

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The BJP has been at a loss since Rahul entered Delhi from neighbouring Haryana on December 24 morning. By the time he addressed a public meeting with the historic Red Fort looming in the backdrop, word had gone around that Rahul could visit Vajpayee’s samadhi the next morning as a mark of respect to the long-cherished BJP leader on his birth anniversary. It got delayed by another day since a whole retinue of top dignitaries from the ruling dispensation was billed to attend the samadhi. Congress ranks’ reservations regarding Vajpayee’s role and legacy, too, surfaced in the meantime.

Congress’ reservations about Vajpayee

An AICC functionary took to Twitter to paint Vajpayee in a rather dark way. Soon, his party peers were squabbling with him, making him expunge the remarks from the micro-blogging site in deference to Rahul’s move to pay honour to Vajpayee. At the same time, there was also a row in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh over the unveiling of a newly built statue of Vajpayee at Bhilai in Durg district. Yet, Rahul remained unfazed by these events and went ahead to offer floral tributes at Vajpayee’s samadhi in Delhi.

It sent the BJP into a virtual tizzy. Former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned Rahul’s inability to visit the Statue of Unity in Gujarat. The statue was built by the Modi government to commemorate the memory of the late Sardar Patel in recognition of his role in bringing about 500 princely states to the Indian Union following Independence.

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Prasad also blamed Rahul’s Yatra for being participated in by men from what he called the “Tukde-Tukde gang,” made of virtual secessionists and separatists. The alleged gang had once organised a noisy meeting in New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to show indignation over the hanging of Afzal Guru in the Parliament attack case. The attack took place during Vajpayee’s tenure as Prime Minister. It clearly referred to Kanhaiya Kumar, though without taking his name. Kanhaiya was the president of JNU students’ union when the controversy arose, though he denied having any role in it. He later joined Congress and has been a part of Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra since its beginning in September.

BJP’s fault-finding mission

Anyway, it has so far been like a holier-than-thou tussle, where the BJP often tries to force Congress to prove its fidelity to the country and to most people who hold the nation dear to their hearts. Congress calls this BJP’s misplaced and divisive idea of nationalism against the grand old party’s inclusive approach based on equal respect for all religions.

Congress also blames the BJP for playing on symbolism rather than benefitting anybody or adding any substance to the symbols that are flaunted to woo the people by the party. It is against this backdrop that Rahul has set out on Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. He has also been challenging the BJP’s symbolism by visiting nearly all the main temples that fall through his long route. That gives his journey a pilgrimage-like hue, in which his visit to Vajpayee’s samadhi also fits.

Also read: Govt coming up with excuses to stop Bharat Jodo Yatra, says Rahul

BJP tried to find faults with Rahul’s Yatra, but Congress claims that the ruling party has failed to succeed in that so far. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate at the Press briefing held on Monday counted nine instances when the BJP tried to discredit the Yatra with unsubstantiated misdemeanours on Rahul’s part, but none of these could stick.

The fault-finding to browbeat Rahul has been on since before the Yatra. Rahul’s detractors once blamed him of visiting the sacred caves of Kailash Mansarovar in the snow-bound Tibet Autonomous Region of China so casually as to have non-vegetarian food on the way. This and similar other allegations against Rahul by BJP and its cohorts have more been a norm rather than an exception.

The success of Bharat Jodo Yatra

Yet, his Bharat Jodo Yatra appears to be outwitting the BJP. Rahul has been drawing huge responses as he goes on to woo as diverse a people as forest-dwelling tribesmen and top-notch Bollywood celebrities. He accords respect to tribespersons by calling them Adivasis, or indigenous people, and invites experienced persons to discuss the economy and social harmony.

Rahul’s criticism of BJP and RSS has been scathing throughout the course of the Yatra so far. So, his move to honour Vajpayee has confounded the BJP’s top brass. Most of them look to be at a loss, not knowing how to react. Rahul’s step to accord Vajpayee equal recognition alongside other Prime Ministers of the country has also silenced the BJP’s criticism of the Congress leader a bit. Had he not visited Vajpayee’s samadhi on Monday, the BJP could well have asked him for an apology for the unseemly row in Congress-administered Chhattisgarh over the unveiling of Vajpayee’s new statue in Bhilai.

Also read: Over 100 days of Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul holds a mirror to Congress peers

So, Rahul is showing his big heart that his rivals lack, says Shrinate as Congress prepares to observe its 137th foundation day today (December 28).

(The writer is an independent journalist based in Delhi-NCR. He tweets at @abidshahjourno)

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