New Delhi: Historian Ramachandra Guha has argued that actions by the Gandhi family and Congress insiders indirectly aided Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s consolidation of power after the 2024 general election.
Guha said Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra “helped in enhancing his credibility, in portraying him as being a man of the people. Yet the Yatra’s gains were frittered away by the reassertion, after the elections, of the Congress as a family firm.”
Warning Unheeded
Giving his opinion in a recent article in Scroll, Guha said he advised a young Congress legislator that “Priyanka Gandhi should not run for the Lok Sabha from Wayanad,” and added he was certain the advice would be disregarded.
He noted Priyanka won Wayanad and then “spoke grandiosely about how she and her brother were uniting the country, her representing the South and he the North.” He criticised the party for naming Priyanka the lead speaker in a parliamentary debate on the Constitution’s 75th anniversary, observing that “it was her own grandmother who sabotaged the Constitution by imposing the Emergency.”
Electoral fallout
Guha pointed to the Congress’s declining footprint in state assemblies since Rahul took formal leadership, citing a report that the party’s number of MLAs fell from 1,204 to 676. He said the Congress’s 99 seats in the 2024 general election encouraged supporters to proclaim Rahul a “prime minister-in-waiting,” a claim he said was amplified by intellectuals and journalists in Delhi.
Assessment Of Rahul Gandhi
While describing Rahul as “a decent human being” and expressing sympathy for his personal tragedies, Guha argued that Rahul remains “an instrument of his mother’s will.” He asserted: “Rahul Gandhi may be a good fellow; nonetheless, those who wish for a successful pushback against the hate-filled regime of the BJP should perhaps stop looking to him as their principal source of hope.” Guha listed perceived weaknesses: lack of “discipline, gravitas and a curriculum vitae,” sporadic engagement on major issues, and reliance on social media interventions that are “destined to be forgotten within 24 hours.”
Leadership Tactics Questioned
Guha criticised what he called Rahul’s “gestural gimmickry,” citing stunts such as jumping into ponds or entering kitchens, and highlighted that Rahul “never held a real job” before entering Parliament in 2004. He said Rahul’s most sustained effort was the Bharat Jodo Yatra, but added that otherwise the leader has not matched the constant organisational labour of BJP leaders.
Dynastic Politics Under Scrutiny
Guha warned against elevating Priyanka as an alternative, calling her “an entitled dynast” despite noting she is “a far better orator than her brother in Hindi.” He pointed to several state elections where dynastic promotions — in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala — were electorally detrimental and argued that recent results constituted “a negative comment on dynastic entitlement.”
BJP Dominance & Future Prospects
Guha acknowledged the BJP under Modi as the principal force behind institutional erosion since 2014 but said the Gandhis have been “(witting or unwitting) accomplices” in enabling Modi’s consolidation. He ended his Scroll piece on a note of guarded optimism, citing Hungary’s opposition comeback as evidence that entrenched incumbents can be unseated by driven, fresh-faced challengers untainted by dynastic privilege.
