Shekhar Gupta: Rahul picks up the sacred thread

Rahul Gandhi is audacious to mix his religion with Congress politics. He can win or perish, but can't retreat from this <i>chakravyuha</i>

Rahul Gandhi’s self-discovery as a practising Hindu and an “uchch koti” (upper tier) Brahmin has confounded his ideological adversaries and outraged his likely friends. He’s got tough love from both. We are arguing here that he has made a most audacious and smart political move at this juncture.

The BJP is so irritated that it first wanted to know his gotra as evidence of his claim to being a janeu-dhari (sacred thread-wearing) Brahmin. It unsettled them even more when the gotra was disclosed. They’ve now fielded their science and technology minister to raise profound “technical” points on how Brahmin gotra