Rahul Gandhi: hope in defeat for India opposition figurehead
- Gandhi has sought to change his reputation in recent years and Congress’ showing at the polls is ‘definitely a big victory’ for him, analysts say
The son, grandson and great-grandson of former prime ministers, Rahul Gandhi was seen as India’s next leader in waiting when he made his foray into politics in 2004.
Two decades on, the 53-year-old opposition Congress party leader recorded his greatest success so far: a 140-odd-seat defeat at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In normal political circumstances, it would rank as an electoral humiliation, but compared to the BJP landslides of 2014 and 2019, it is a stunning turnabout.
On Saturday, he was nominated to be India’s official opposition in parliament.
The once-dominant Congress had withered under his stewardship, and expectations were already low even before exit polls predicted another crushing win for the BJP.
Instead, a relaxed Gandhi held up a little red book at his party headquarters on Tuesday and proclaimed that the voters “have taken the first and the biggest step to save the constitution of this country”.
