No more a Pappu: How Rahul Gandhi made most of an impossible situation

In his speech, Gandhi got under the skin of BJP MPs by attacking Amit Shah and PM Modi, turned self-deprecating when he said he didn't mind people calling him 'Pappu', and went on to Modi

On the eve of the no-confidence motion, Congress strategists understood well they had none in their ranks who could match up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s communication skills. The Congress, therefore, went about planning an ambush – to rile Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members and make them come across as hysterical and full of hate, and then go about showing the difference between the Sangh’s divisive ideology versus the Congress party’s ‘all embracing’ ideology.

In his speech, Congress President Rahul Gandhi checked all these boxes. He got under the skin of BJP MPs by attacking their party chief Amit Shah,