CNN
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He has about 2,500 kilometers left to go until his journey is complete. But the great-grandson of India’s first prime minister was adamant.
Dressed in head-to-toe white, Rahul Gandhi is walking 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles) across India to meet voters and spark interest in the National Congress of India, a once powerful political party. currently struggling to win votes.
Every foot is captured on live feeds and social media, but Gandhi is no longer party leader – and won’t be bringing his followers to the next national election on year 2024.
That would go to Mallikarjun Kharge, a Congress veteran who was appointed to the top role on Wednesday, in a move that would mean the party for the first time in more than 20 years would be led by a single someone other than Gandhi.
The fact that a Gandhi would not become the face of India’s oldest political unit is almost unthinkable to many – a member of the family has run the organization for years. 40 years of the 75 years of independence and leadership for most of the remaining 35 years.
But analysts say that as the country enters a new era, riding on a wave of right-wing, nationalist, family and Congress politics makes little sense in the country’s political present, partly due to numerous corruption scandals and mismanagement within the party.
“Today’s Gandhis are completely dwarfed and overshadowed by Narendra Modi,” said New Delhi-based political commentator Arati R. Jerath.
“It’s hard to predict the future, but for a family that ruled over much of independent India, we are unlikely to see another Gandhi leader of the country.”
As a powerful political dynasty, some have likened the Gandhis to the Kennedys, which for decades have carefully navigated a series of personal tragedies coupled with a difficult balancing act.
The family does not take its name from Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the country’s famous independence leader.
Instead, they are descendants of Jawaharlal Nehru, who was instrumental in the country’s independence movement and in 1947 became the country’s first prime minister. Nehru’s daughter Indira adopted the name Gandhi through her marriage to Feroze Gandhi, another unrelated member of its leader.
Indira later followed in his father’s footsteps, before handing over leadership to his son, Rajiv. Then his wife, Sonia Gandhi and son, Rahul, will take over.
Nehru ruled for 17 years after independence from British rule, ushering in a new era following the bloody division that led to the founding of Pakistan, causing the deaths of 2 million people and an estimated 15 million who had to spit.
Nehru unified the impoverished country by sowing the seeds of economic, social and political development for decades.
“He was part of the freedom struggle, and so he wanted to make sure that India reached her potential and thrived,” said Jerath. “He wanted to lead his people into a brave new world.”
During his time in power, Nehru promoted democracy and secularism, invested in science and technology, built leading educational institutes, and promoted gender equality in the deeply rooted head state.
When he died in office on May 28, 1964, memories from all over the world poured in. Two years later, his daughter, Indira Gandhi (who takes her husband’s last name), will become the country’s first – and only – female prime minister to date.
Prepared for this position from an early age, Indira Gandhi was seen as a sharp-minded, strong-willed and, to some, autocratic leader.
She was elected prime minister from 1966 to 1977, and again in 1980. But her years in power were marked by both personal tragedy – her son Sanjay died shortly after the second term. her – and turbulent, due in part to the war with Pakistan, drought, famine, and the economic crisis.
Faced with growing discontent, Indira Gandhi declared a controversial state of emergency in India for 21 months in 1975 – suspending basic freedoms, imposing press censorship and jailing opposition members.
Her years in power culminated in tragedy when on October 31, 1984, she was shot dead by Sikh bodyguards at her home in New Delhi, four months after she had given orders to the Indian army. storm the Golden Temple – one of the holiest temples of Sikhism. – to destroy the separatists.
“The mood of the country changed after the assassination,” said Rasheed Kidwai, author of “Sonia, A Biography”. “But the tragic part of it is, it has a law of diminishing returns. These days, not many of our young children know about her sacrifices and difficult decisions.”
Indira Gandhi’s son, Rajiv, took over from her after her death.
Known as a “reluctant” prime minister and never wanted a job, Rajiv Gandhi became the youngest leader at age 40. But he served less than a decade, losing a general election. in 1989 after a corruption scandal, and was assassinated two years later. of the Sri Lankan separatist group, The Tigers Liberating Tamil Eelam.
During his tenure, he signed peace treaties with insurgent groups in states with high religious tensions, and is credited for developing India’s science and technology sectors, bringing earning him the nickname “Father of Information and Technology.”
Without Gandhi’s leadership and the emergence of the BJP in the 1990s, Congress was in trouble. In the years that followed, India’s leadership rotated between parties.
It was not until Rajiv’s Italian widow, Sonia, took the helm of Parliament in 1998 that they officially returned.
Six years later, she led the party to victory in the general election – but failed to hold the top position and instead appointed economist Manmohan Singh as prime minister.
But with the rise of a new wave of right-wing politics, their party now takes refuge in the political wilderness, analysts say. In 2014, Modi was elected prime minister with a large majority.
“(The Gandhis) exude the tragic glitz of the Kennedys,” said political commentator Jerath. “This is a family that built India’s education, healthcare and technology institutions. Their legacy is still felt to this day.”
On 3 July 2019, after a humiliating and painful defeat in the general elections in India, Rahul Gandhi publicly resigned as leader of the National Assembly.
Modi’s BJP just won a historic majority in the lower house, cementing the antithesis of Gandhi’s Congress as the most formidable political force in Indian politics in decades.
“Modi perfected the narrative that the Gandhis were a free elite, the dynasty should not be in power,” says Kidwai. “And as the country shifts to the right, his politics is proving very popular.”
The BJP has its roots in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing-Hindu group that are followers of the Hindutva ideology – making India the land of the Hindus.
Nearly 80% of the country’s 1.3 billion people are Hindu, and analysts say Modi’s populist politics appeal to the masses.
“India is changing. As democracy deepened, we saw the rise of a new class of people — and this class really wasn’t taught the Nehruvian principles of democracy,” Jerath said. “They are willing to buy into the Hindutva politics of the BJP led by Modi. And this is something that this generation of Gandhis has not been able to deal with.”
Furthermore, analysts point to decades of infighting and mismanagement within the Congress party, which have weakened the party’s standing in the country. Rahul and Sonia Gandhi were also accused of corruption – charges they deny.
The second term of the last prime minister of India’s ruling Parliament has been plagued by allegations of corruption and bribery scandals amounting to tens of millions of dollars.
Modi’s humble beginnings as the son of a tea seller, compared to the privileged and Western-influenced upbringing of the Gandhis, also made him more connected to a middle class. emerging, says Jerath. Nehru, like Rajiv and Rahul, was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. His daughter, Indira, at Oxford University.
“Rahul Gandhi continues to find success but it is quite elusive,” says Kidwai. “That’s why he took on another role and ran this campaign across the country.”
As Rahul Gandhi continues his journey to unify the country, he may succeed in rebuilding the image of Congress. But it looks like he never will became the prime minister of the country, like his father, grandmother and great-grandfather before him. He was never married and had no children. His sister, Priyanka, who is also a member of the party, has two young children – but it is unclear if they have ever entered political life.
All eyes will be on the next leader, as he tries to get enough votes to oust Modi by 2024.
“Modi certainly has power,” said Jerath. “But if Congress can act together, then we could see a comeback.”
