Summary:
Hyderabad, Nov 2 (PTI) Rahul Gandhi does not like backseat driving or asserting his authority and his greatest value going forward will be to play the role of an “ideological compass” for the Congress, senior leader Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday.
A week after Mallikarjun Kharge, the first non-Gandhi president in over 24 years, took charge of the party, Ramesh said some people are calling Gandhi the elephant in the room but his response is that the former party chief is actually a “tiger on the road”.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra, Ramesh told PTI, has been a “real booster dose” for the public relationship of the party and its "two Cs"- connectivity for Gandhi and collectivity for the organisation.
“The most tangible impact is on Congress organisation.
Congress morale is now at extraordinary high levels.
Whether this will translate into long lasting public support is now dependent on the organisation,” the senior leader said.
Ramesh, who is also walking in the Yatra, cited thinker and philosopher Albert Camus to describe Gandhi’s leadership style -- “Don"t walk behind me; I may not lead.
Don"t walk in front of me; I may not follow.
Just walk beside me.” “Having known Mr.
Gandhi for 18 years, and I know him fairly well, he does not like backseat driving, he does not like asserting his position or authority, he is a very democratic person," Ramesh said.
The journey undertaken by the party has had a transformative impact in terms of perceptions of Gandhi that had been “distorted very heavily” by the "BJP troll machine", he said in an interview with PTI during the Yatra here.
For him personally at the age of 68 as well as for the party organisation, the Yatra is the “last throw of the dice” and a "huge gamble", Ramesh said.
Asked what role Gandhi would play with Kharge taking over the party’s reins, the Congress general secretary in-charge communications said it is up to Kharge and Gandhi to decide that.
“Speaking as a Congressman, an office bearer, member of Parliament, I think Mr Rahul Gandhi"s greatest value will be to play the role of an ideological compass for the party,” he said.
Every party needs an ideological compass or a moral compass, and Rahul Gandhi is ideally suited for that role, Ramesh argued.
“Now whether he plays that role or not is entirely between him and Mr Kharge.