New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi has come in for some praise from his arch rival and former Union minister Smriti Irani, who believes there has been a change in the Congress leader’s politics and that his strategies should not be underestimated.
The BJP leader, a bitter critic of Rahul, had defeated him in the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency in 2019 but lost to Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma this June.
“Politics mein change aya hai,” Irani said in journalist Sushant Sinha’s podcast Top Angle released Wednesday. “He thinks he has tasted success. If you notice when he talks about caste… in his political experience of several years now… he is speaking about it as an instrument. When he wears a white T-shirt in Parliament, he is aware of the kind of message he is sending the youth,” Irani said.
She added: “We shouldn’t be mistaken about his actions, whether they seem good, bad, or even immature. But he is now representing a different kind of politics.”
The former Union minister was, however, quick to add that this change in strategy was politically driven, and may have risen from his failed attempts at engaging in “soft Hindutva.”
Irani said Rahul did not find “traction” when he was “temple hopping”. “It was in fact becoming a subject of ridicule. And somewhere, some people in the public… in Hindu society… were feeling this was a falsehood. Some people found it deceitful,” she said.
The BJP leader said this prompted Rahul’s strategy team to change tack. “Can it be found on caste basis? Are you getting traction (with this) somewhere? So this is an issue of political traction (raising caste),” Irani said, adding if this had instead been Rahul’s “political view”, it would have reflected in his political journey.
“It is a part of his political strategy. To say such things on social media, even though he knows ‘Miss India’ doesn’t make a government, he knows that by saying this he can grab headlines,” she added, referring to Rahul’s comments last week that no Dalit, tribal or backward-class women had made it to the beauty pageant.
The former parliamentarian said it was important to understand “whether we are becoming a pawn in his strategy or by taking a top angle, we are changing our strategy (to counter him)”.
When asked if Rahul was still a ‘balak buddhi’ (immature mind), Irani said: “Some politicians are good when they stick to the script and some politicians script history… Modi is a man who scripts history. When you will look at people in his reflection, then many will not appear politically as suave.”
Incidentally, after Irani lost Amethi in June, Rahul had countered the ridicule she received, saying: “Winning and losing happen in life… Humiliating and insulting people is a sign of weakness, not strength.”
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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