At least someone in Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s team should have have had the courage to tell Rahul that his bald and comb joke on the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party was not only unimaginative, but dumb too.
But, anyway, if Rahul had given his own joke some thought, he would have realised that with some modification it was more applicable TO his own government. Looking at the last five years of this government, it can be said with some certainty that this UPA government will find it very hard to even convince a person with a thick mop of hair on his head, that a comb has a functional use.
Over the last few months, my work has taken me to the interiors of Northern and Western India. Based on speaking to people there, A few things emerge very clearly:
One, there is a huge disenchantment with the UPA government. People are angry. The first complaint is over the failure of this government to keep prices in check. Then, farmers are dissatisfied as they complain of being underpaid. They often question, who is getting the money because there is a huge difference between the price at which they sell their produce and the price at which it is finally sold in the market.
Herein lies the first lesson for Gandhi. Because if he believes that the FDI in retail is good for farmers as it would eliminate the middlemen, then certainly people on the ground have no idea of this. The UPA government has failed to get its point across. Let alone explaining that controlling price rise is the primary job of the state government and not of the Central government.
Second, the only people aware of the welfare schemes of this government are bureaucrats who sit in their secretariats. The Food Security Act, which this government is hoping will do some wonders, is yet to be sold to the aam aadmi. What is the point in showing advertisements of the Food Security Act on private FM radio and television, when the people it is aimed at can barely afford any of these luxuries? Instead, the government could have relied on the traditional methods of asking their cadre to go in the interiors and explain the merits of this Act.
Surprisingly, more than corruption, people are incensed by the deteriorating law and order. This is especially true in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. A farmer in Haryana, who had spent his youth in the Army, told me that India was better off under the British. “At least you were punished for your crime.” Isn’t law and order a state subject?
Lastly, recently Gandhi picked out Mani Shankar Aiyar and praised him for his contribution in promoting the Panchayati Raj Institutions. Such is the sycophancy in the congress party that at the mention of his name by Gandhi, people sitting near Aiyar started congratulating him. Certainly, this proves that Mr Gandhi is distant from reality. Because on the ground, people are dissatisfied with how Panchayats are being run. In the absence of any significant reform in the last decade, far from ensuring a more participative democracy, the PRIs have become just another arena where local politics is played.
The UPA needs not just lessons in marketing, but a brand manager -- And indeed a full-time leader-- who can improve its credibility too.
