Expert Chat: Discover this Rahul, crowd is not votes

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on March 7 started his ‘Discover India’ tour from Orissa—a tour which seems like campaigning for the next general elections.

The Congress says Rahul is trying to connect with the country, but will his tour have any impact on the electorate? IBNLive readers asked this to Pallavi Ghosh, CNN-IBN’s Chief Political Correspondent, in a web chat on Wednesday. (Excerpts from the chat. )

Sunil Kumar: We have seen Rahul many a times in Parliament sitting aloof and not participating in discussions. Do you think he is really interested in state of the nation? I feel he should have been playing pro-active role in party and policy making.

Pallavi Ghosh: I absolutely agree. He needs to be heard more in Parliament.

Sunaina: What are his lapses?

Pallavi Ghosh: He follows the book. He lacks fire in his belly. He needs to connect with people more, and being in public life he has to be a good orator

Prasanna: Don’t you think that journalists should atleast assume a facade of neutrality while reporting? Even within CNN-IBN’s editorial bias for the Congress (in my assessment which could well be wrong) is it possible to adopt a more nuanced reporting style that does not reek of obvious bias?

Pallavi Ghosh: I have never been told by my bosses to follow a line. What we all do is question everything. Why do we presume that a journalist has always to criticise? Objectivity also means appreciating. I don't think the Congress is perfect, but I certainly think our PM is a good man, who is not being able to do what he wants to.

Soum: Do you think Rahul’s disappearance from a guesthouse for four hours in the evening in a Naxalite-affected area was a part of conspiracy to defame the Orissa government and a ploy to cancel the tour as the campaign has failed to generate any impact on public?

Pallavi Ghosh: No, I don't think. I think his managers wanted the media not to know about it. We didn't for at least 24 hours.

Ramprasad: How best he is when he talking to poor people? The words are coming from mouth or really from heart the way he is expressing.

Pallavi Ghosh: I really think he means every word he says to them. When he is away from camera, and just speaking to them, he is animated and really interested.

Debasis: It seems CNN-IBN does not have any news except following politicians. This is my sincere request to all news channels to concentrate on problems of common man. We don’t have any interest to know what these politicians are doing.

Pallavi Ghosh: We follow politicians because they could be harbingers of change and improvement. That they often are not is of human interest to us.

Manjunath: Your channel is obsessed with Sonia, Rahul and the Congress. How come you always show Congress in positive light but not the BJP? It happened during Gujarat elections with much venom and you still want to continue it unabatedly.

Pallavi Ghosh: There were some issues in Gujarat which we needed to highlight in our Gujarat coverage, like the missing child Parzania and justice for riot victims. We had to criticise Narendra Modi because there were serious lapses there. But when he won, we did concede the power of the man to bounce back.

Aditya: Why is CNN-IBN obsessed with the Congress and Gandhi family?. Why are you so intolerant of the BJP and its Hindutva campaign?

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Pallavi Ghosh: CNN-IBN is not intolerant of anything, it questions everything. We have done far more anti-establishment stories than other channels but the fact is that it’s the Congress, which is in power at the centre and what you call obsession is actually tacking the party in power.

Vatsa: Do yatras suite a young person like Rahul? Grassroots politics requires an understanding of regional feelings and politics. Isn’t it?

Pallavi Ghosh: Yes, you do need to understand what every region wants. But I think that’s exactly what Rahul is trying to do. And let us not grudge him his yatras—we all love them. But yes how much will it help his party, I am sceptical.

APL: Do you see in Rahul a future leader with the charm of Barack Obama?

Pallavi Ghosh: Rahul certainly has the charm but he has a poor track record. After not doing much in UP and Gujarat there are question marks on his capability, but some of the things he says do give a ray of hope. The harsh reality is that at the end of the day votebank compulsions often compromise ideals.

Suvrangshu Sarkar: Do you think that Gandhi surname is the only thing helping Rahul?

Pallavi Ghosh: It certainly has give him a headstart.

Anthony D'souza: Why does UP mean so much to Rahul? Why spend so much time and effort on an electorate who do not respond and where logic and development do not rate high but casteism does? Why is Rahul spending so much time there trying to make a name for himself?

Pallavi Ghosh: UP is where the Gandhi family in a way began with politics, so its an emotional issue. Also, Congress realises that to make its presence felt in Indian politics, it needs to register in UP. But I concede, it’s a losing battle

Kunal: Will Rahul Gandhi’s ‘charm’ impress illiterate and poor voters? What impact you foresee of Rahul’s Discover India tour?

Pallavi Ghosh: I think we need to realise that voters have got smarter. They will never vote for just the name and smile. Rahul’s party lacks strategy and it is losing grip on the pulse of the people—not even Rahul can bail it out.

S Sundararaman: Why your channel is enamored by Rahul so much that even his amateurish political fulminations are caught and blown up?

Pallavi Ghosh: : At CNN-IBN we are enamored of nobody. In fact we are the only English channel which questions everything. I did a story from Orissa saying that just as star sons have failed to click in Bollywood, so have political sons. Rahul needs to have his own identity.

S Gnash: Didn’t Chandrasekhar go on a padayatra three decades ago? Didn’t LK Advani go on a rath yatra 15 years ago? Chandrasekhar became PM by compulsion and not qualification. Advani is still struggling What can a novice like Rahul achieve notwithstanding his surname.

Pallavi Ghosh: True. Discover India will not have an immediate impact but for Rahul himself it’s a learning process. Crowds never translate into votes—Rahul should know that.

Ashish Pandey: Some people say that Rahul has just proved his immaturity by statements he gave during this trip? How true is it?

Pallavi Ghosh: Sorry but this time I think he was better. He needs to improve but he did connect. His words were careful and he was actually much more mature in his press conference.

Himanshu Singh: Even though his words sound impractical, don’t you think what he says if implemented will revive not just the congress but the country as a whole?

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Pallavi Ghosh: Yes. But he alone cannot do it. His party unfortunately doesn’t seem to have the ingredients to do it now.

Ashok Mohapatra: Was Rahul’s trip a bid to revive the glory of the Gandhi surname?

Pallavi Ghosh: In Orissa it certainly seem so. In Orissa, the Congress has been out of power for eight years. It has got no base and no organisation. The only thing he could fall back on was the Gandhi legacy.

Nagarajan: Rahul’s ‘Discover India’ is too late to expect an impact. He should have hit the road soon after entering Lok Sabha, instead of waiting to become Congress general secretary.

Pallavi Ghosh: :Two things. Becoming Congress general secretary in charge of youth affairs has given him a slogan, so he is making youth his campaign point. Secondly, at the end of the day he is a politician and for him it makes sense to begin with states not ruled by Congress. Makes it easier for him to find faults!

S Ganesh: Have you seen Rahul exhibiting leadership quality at any time? During the last three years of touring and campaigning I have seen him to be a miserable failure in not translating the crowds to votes.

Pallavi Ghosh: True. But I have noticed a change in him. He is more confident; he can handle tough questions better and he is handling his team well.

Premvati: His great-grandfather was India’s first prime minister, his grandmother and father were prime ministers and his mother is the Congress president Are we expecting too much from Rahul?

Pallavi Ghosh: But the Indian political scene is changing fast. Politics and life don’t give you second chances. So, he has to do it quick.

Remo: Can Rahul become the PM like his father?

Pallavi Ghosh: The point is circumstances made Rajiv the PM. Rahul becoming a PM in future could happen because of his surname rather than his capability. But yes, after a headstart you need to prove yourself. People never vote back a loser.

Vijay: Why this fuss about Rahul? He has a Gandhi surname and that is it.

Pallavi Ghosh: One cannot deny the fact that crowds throng wherever he comes. They love to see the Gandhi boy, his smiles, his chopper he lands in. Media follows him because his party has projected him as the heir apparent and he despite his failures will in a strange way shape the way his party will go.

Madan Lal Khurana: We all know Rahul Gandhi played a major role in Congress campaigning in elections in Uttar Pradesh last year and failed to reverse its declining fortunes there. Now with the speculation that the Congress is preparing for early elections what is your single advise to Rahul?

Pallavi Ghosh: Connect with people. Falling back on his famous surname doesn't help. People have moved on.

Srikanth: Rahul is still very young and he needs to feel and study the pulse of this country. Do you feel ignoring him at this juncture is quite unfair on our part?

Pallavi Ghosh: True. You can’t ignore anyone who belongs to Gandhi family. They do have a star attraction but then his lapses cannot be ignored.