Learn from Kejriwal, Mr Gandhi

Just weeks before Delhi elections it is fascinating to see how the Aam Aadmi Party has resurrected itself from the ashes of defeat suffered a mere seven months ago A crushing loss in the general elections and a devastating fall of its 49day government before that Arvind Kejriwal and his motley band of motivated supporters were written off as history Disheartened members walked away high profile workers ditched the party and found solace in the BJP that was on a winning spree but Kejriwal plodded onWhile AAPrsquos Arvind Kejriwal started from rock bottom rebuilding the cadres and apologising to the people for his mistakes Congress scion Rahul Gandhi is nowhere to be seen in the partyrsquos campaign in Delhi File picHe started from rock bottom in June this year rebuilt his cadres and then went back to the people with folded hands admitting his mistakes apologising and going about things in the same manner of old He used the same modus operandi made stunning and debilitating charges against rivals promising to be the only noncorrupt alternative And all this without the support of the media Channels shut their doors on him newspapers stopped covering AAPrsquos press conferences but somehow he worked even that to his advantage They made fun of his muffler he used it as his leitmotif He became the Muffler ManThe crowds started coming back as did the donations Slowly volunteers also found their way back to the party From being labelled a lsquobhagodarsquo deserter he crawled his way up the popularity charts Who would have imagined this six months agoCompare this now with the Congress and its permanent management trainee Rahul Gandhi Why could Rahul Gandhi not have galvanised the cadres of his party in the same manner as Kejriwal He heads the oldest political party in the country with the largest and most experienced political cadre Okay technically his mother heads it But that is semantics Between the two of them they led the party to its most crushing defeat ever In the past six months they have presided over one loss after the otherWhy could Rahul not have done things the Kejriwal way Shown some energy instead of the trademark lethargy There are random reports of how he wants to bring in elections into the Congress Working Committee mdash these reports have been recycled every few months for the past six to seven years Then there is talk of him wanting to go on a Bharat Yatra Suddenly he pops up at a jhuggi jopri area bravely facing a bulldozer saying it can go over him before demolishing an unauthorised shanty Then poof Gone for weeksIn Parliament he is silent In front of the media he seldom speaks It is left to Messers Chacko Tewari Digvijaya Dwivedi and Maken to decode Rahulrsquos silences to the media And they too do not have much to say about him All this when traditionally the media had leaned towards the CongressKejriwalrsquos men and women hop in and out of public transport weave their way into the gullies of Delhirsquos not so tony areas apologising seeking forgiveness taking down notes chatting pumping hands and sharing meals They debate the BJPrsquos policies at nukkads on the social media on radio interviews And Kejriwal leads from the front Not Rahul He is nowhere to be seen in the Congress partyrsquos campaign in Delhi He supposedly lives in this cityIs he in Amethi Nope Priyanka Gandhi was there on Saturday asking people to protest against Modirsquos and Akhileshrsquos policies Why Where is the peoplersquos representative Didnrsquot they vote Rahul to do precisely thatIf Kejriwal could emerge from ridicule and devastating loss to becoming a serious contender for Chief Minister of Delhi what stops Rahul Gandhi from at least trying to energise his party Why is he always the reluctant PrinceOptics count All one saw of him this month was walking protectively with his mother in and out of the CWC meeting But wait it looked more like she was being protective of him Shielding him from the mediarsquos probing questions from the disappointment of party workers from the dejection of senior leadersEven the BJP which is on a victory roll doesnrsquot take things for granted Weeks before the Delhi election they roped in Kiran Bedi when they saw things getting tough in the capital Constantly revamping remodelling rejigging so that lethargy doesnrsquot set in On the other hand the youngest leader of the three parties still cant dig his party out of the paralytic state What will it take to wake up the GandhiSmita Prakash is Editor News at Asian News International You can follow her on twitter smitaprakash