On December 8, 2013, the results of the assembly elections in Delhi were announced, and, for the Congress there was nothing to cheer about. The party ended up with just a handful of seats after having ruled the state for 15 years. The then Congress vice president, Rahul Gandhi, appeared before the media at the party headquarters, putting up a brave front; he talked about transforming the organisation. The arrival on the scene of a new political party-the Aam Aadmi Party was not lost on him.
The challenge posed by AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal was on top of Rahul's mind. It was apparent in his reaction even as he struck an optimistic note. Said Rahul, "I am going to make sure that a transformation happens, and I will do it in ways in which you cannot even imagine. We will involve people in a way you cannot even imagine. I think the AAP has involved a lot of people, which the traditional parties did not. Both the major parties [the BJP and the Congress] are thinking about politics in a traditional way in Delhi. The Congress needs to change that." If Rahul had inherited a traditional party well past its prime and struggling to reinvent itself, Kejriwal led a party that promised to do things differently.
Soon, in the Lok Sabha polls in 2014, it was apparent that the transformation in the Congress had not happened and the leadership credentials of Rahul were hit hard. The Congress registered its worst ever performance in a general election and plummeted to its least ever number of seats. On the other hand, Kejriwal got a rude reality check as his party fell flat on its face in its effort to punch way above its weight. The bureaucrat-turned-activist-turned-politician was dealt an extremely humiliating defeat by the BJP’s poster boy, Narendra Modi, in Varanasi.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 25, 2022 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 25, 2022 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
