Headlines
'New colour, new style' Rahul attracts attention in Amethi
By
Mohit DubeyAmethi, May 23
His 57-day political sabbatical
in unknown land may have made him the butt of many a joke, but for the
faithful in Amethi, Rahul Gandhi is a changed man - more accessible and
more focused.
For hundreds and thousands of party loyalists and
Gandhi followers in the family pocketborough, which he has represented
thrice, the recent three-day visit of the Gandhi scion to Amethi has
left a "fresh feel" among those who met him.
They had gained an
impression of a "neta getting back his footing" in a place which gave
him a real scare in the Lok Sabha elections last year.
Ambuj
Tripathi, a tea vendor at Gauriganj, a long standing Congress loyalist
who had this time voted for BJP's Smriti Irani admits of "liking the
more mellowed and free-wheeling" Rahul.
"This time he appeared to
be down from the Gandhi surname's high horse as he mingled freely with
us and am happy that even if not complete, the change in my MP has
started," Tripathi told IANS.
As the 44-year-old sat cross-legged
on the floor in midst of the farmers, hugged a few, patted others and
heard patiently to their long list of problems - the crop damage woes
due to unseasonal rains and hail, poor water supply for irrigation,
power outages and bad roads - Gandhi appeared to have rejuvenated the
old 'Gandhi connect" with the people.
"It is indeed a reformed
Rahul Bhaiyya," Vivek Singh of Musafirkhana, who admits of being a
staunch Gandhi family fan, told this IANS correspondent.
Pointing
out that the victory margin of the Congress vice-president had ebbed
last year considerably due to the "aloofness and mere-hand-waving
politics of the Gandhis," the 24-year-old unemployed graduate sees the
new look and combative Rahul as a "potentially positive political
development."
According to Youth Congress leader Abhishek Tiwari
the "changed Rahul was going down well with the constituents of Amethi"
but cautions that the "change must go on." He points out that the
coterie of some self-seeking locals and hanger-ons must be done away
with.
At Kasara in Sangrampur where Rahul visited on his trip, the feedback is similar and heartening for the moribund Congress.
Taking
up farmers problems, listening to them and "appearing to be on their
side" did wonders to the sagging image and goodwill for Congress, says
Amarnath Shahstri, a local teacher.
"He is playing his cards
well this time and am sure if this is an indicator of things to come,
Congress revival is not a far cry" he said.
Ram Avtaar, a
villager from Navipur is impressed by Rahul Gandhi's 'kisan panchayat'
and says he was happy that "at least someone had walked to their
doorstep and was hearing them out over their problems."
Not only the party supporters but even those in the administration and the opposition parties are feeling "the winds of change."
During
his three-day stay at Amethi - a first of this long duration, Gandhi
summoned many a local officials including sub-divisional magistrate of
Musafirkhana R.D Ram, executive engineer (tube wells), executive
engineer (Jal Nigam) and many others and cross-questioned them on
various issues.
"Naya rang, naya roop" (new colour, new style)
quipped a senior district official while describing his meeting with the
MP. While Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders and local legislators like
Rakesh Pratap Singh, Dr Muslim and many others refuse to comment on the
new-found makeover of Rahul Gandhi, many admit in private that the
Gandhi scion was "getting back into his elements."
Opposition
BJP, however, finds "nothing much" in either the Gandhi scion or his
efforts to revive the party fortunes in Amethi. "Faced with a credible
government at the center and a tough opposition in the constituency,
Rahul has been forced to take some corrective measures...but they are
not enough and would do little good" says Hriday Narayan Dixit, BJP's
leader of opposition in the Legislative Council.
Close aides of
Rahul Gandhi however contest this opinion and say time will prove how
the Congress VP lifts the morale and fortunes of the party.
(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at [email protected])