Keep mum

Minutes after the Congress Partyrsquos much touted relaunch vehicle for Rahul Gandhi columnist Ashok Malik tweeted ldquoMy unsolicited gratuitous advice to both the Congress party and Rahul is the same Keep Mumrdquo Pun firmly intended And advice bang on target Rahul Gandhi seemed as disconnected from the farmers as the person he was painting as the villainIt was a SuperSunday with both the BJP and the Congress yanking the legendary weatherbeaten Indian farmer on to their camps But what everybody who was watching the speeches by Modi Rahul and Sonia was doing was comparing the oratorical element Oratory is important for success in politics So is contentRahul Gandhi addresses a large gathering of farmers at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi yesterday Rahul neither appeared eager nor did he look like he had a plan of action in mind All he seemed to suggest was that he would stop the Land Acquisition OrdinanceAct How That is left to our imagination and that of the beleagured farmer PicPTIWhen it comes to delivery style and idiom usage in speeches Modi is head and shoulders above both Sonia and Rahul However Sundayrsquos speech at the BJP MPrsquos workshop gave the impression that Modi was annoyed Irritated with media nothing newhellipimpatient with his party workers also nothing new He conveyed a sense that he was annoyed that he had to clarify his intent and actionhellipthat he had to contend with the partyrsquos message not being delivered to the people when he was busy running the country and had more pressing matters to attend to In politics itrsquos not enough to let lsquoactions speakrsquo People donrsquot judge you just by your actions you even have to appear to be sincere and humble while doing those actions however constructive those actions may beRahul meanwhile neither appeared eager nor did he look like he had a plan of action in mind All he seemed to suggest was that he would stop the Land Acquisition OrdinanceAct How That the beleaguered farmer and we are left to imagine Just like the Congress workers are left to conceptualise in their minds a party where Rahul is at the helm Nobody really knows if when and how that could happenHe berated the BJP for being a party of industrialists who owe it to big business for having won the election As if any party has won an election on love and fresh air He totally misses the point that had the farmers of India seen the Congress party as their voice then his party would not have had such a poor showing in the electionsSonia Gandhi doesnrsquot look anywhere close to a woman on the verge of retirement She gave a fiery speech on Sunday wagging a finger at the BJP thinning her lips and frowning with anger at the perfidy of the lsquoModi Sarkarrsquo Sonia thundered ldquoInki kathni aur karni mey farak hai zabaan mey kuch aur kaam kuch aur hai Neeyat aur nitii mey farak hairdquo She also said ldquoaaj hum is liye ek jutt huen hai Modi sarkar ko bataane ab bohat ho chuka hairdquo But Mrs Gandhi is probably not noticing that her party has somewhat the same message for her Ab bohat ho chuka Enough is enough Her son better shape up to lead the partyEarlier Rahul also tried to sound angry and agitated over what he said was a raw deal to farmers ldquoNo Make in India is planned or being executed Itrsquos a ploy by Modiji to grab your land We will not allow it to happen I will stop itrdquo Brave words indeed How will he stop it if he is neither in Parliament nor among farmers That he did not answerThis was just another speech by Rahul It was not the comeback speech that was supposed to establish him as the leader If attacking Modi cannot get him animated nothing else canConspicuous by her absence was Priyanka Gandhi Vadra If anything Sonia Gandhi has laid to rest all speculation that Rahul is being replaced by his sister who like a monsoon blossom only appears during elections and polling day but she is supposed to be the trump card that will only be imagined aboutMeanwhile the fight continues on who is the real messiah of the poor Who can do the most for the poor farmer Who can shed the image of being a land shark Twothirds of India is dependent on farm income Unseasonal rains in March and April and prediction of an El Nino effect on monsoons can upset the best of plans of the Modi government Food inflation could shoot up government would have to announce higher Minimum Support Prices MSP or bonuses waive off farm loans or electricity charges to farmers rural spending could further go down nothing will seem rosy about the economy if rural India goes into distressSmita Prakash is Editor News at Asian News International You can follow her on twitter smitaprakash