What's good for Rahul Gandhi isn't necessarily good for the Congress

While Congress can go on and on about how voters are economically worse off today, social issues matter more in politics. The BJP understands this and has its messaging electorally right

Ever since the Congress started the Bharat Jodo Yatra, commentary around it has made the point, amongst other points, that it marks a huge improvement in the party's political communication. That's probably true for a certain category of upper-class, religion-agnostic voters.

But then, we must remember that the Congress party's economic communication has been superb all along. Right from the "suit-boot ki sarkar" jibe in 2014 till now, the Congress has harassed the government with its economic communications strategy, which focuses on failures which voters understand.

Sadly, however, secularism, which is what the Bharat Jodo Yatra is about, is likely to make virtually no impact. The crowds may turn up to see Rahul Gandhi but do they give a damn about his "be nice to the minorities" message? Unlikely.

It's important to understand that most non-Muslims don't like Muslims, period. The degree of dislike may vary, and they may disapprove of their persecution, but overall they don't care enough to vote against anyone who endorses such persecution. Many, in fact, vote for such people.

That's why the Yatra may be excellent for Rahul Gandhi personally; it's doubtful if it will work for the Congress as a whole. Be that as it may, the contrast with the BJP's economic communication, which is as bad as the Congress's political communication, is striking.

Just as the Congress is right about how Indian politics should be conducted, the BJP is right about how the Indian economy should be governed. Yet, it can't make a positive impact.

The BJP just can't convince voters about its economic performance — which has actually been quite remarkable but not in areas that make a difference to the voter, namely, incomes and prices. This is exactly like the consistency of the Congress in defending secular values but having zero electoral impact.

The BJP can't deny that incomes are down and prices are up. Hence the general sense amongst voters is that they are worse off now economically than before 2014.

The main reason for this is that the BJP has followed, by and large, sensible textbook economic policies. This contrasts sharply with its socio-political policies, which have been electorally rewarding but otherwise retrograde.

In contrast, the Congress didn't follow very sensible economic policies when it was in power, especially regarding subsidies and deficits. These policies were electorally rewarding but made the economy a huge mess. Remember, India was made a member of the 'Fragile Five'?

But that doesn't alter the fact that these policies did make the voter feel economically very good since, at least till 2011, they earned more money and paid less for consumption items. Loans were also less costly. With the BJP, it's been the other way around.

But economic distress and discomfort haven't prevented them from endorsing BJP's socio-political policies in two successive general elections and several assembly elections. In fact, around 40 per cent of them have been quite enthusiastic.

This is not as strange as it seems. In the 2009 General Elections, the Congress won 62 more seats than it did in 2004 despite steadily increasing inflation in the previous 18 months. The BJP lost 20.

In the final analysis, this constitutes the main challenge for the Congress. It can go on and on about how the voters are economically worse off today, but in India, social issues matter more in politics. The BJP understood this and has got it's messaging electorally right.

As BK Nehru, a grand-uncle of Rahul, wrote, "nice guys come second" — and maybe not even that.