You can’t just win an election in India by promoting a smart and educated person, there are many other important factors needed to win the support of the masses. Educational qualifications don’t have a huge role to play in Indian politics.
Shashi Tharoor is a knowledgeable person, he is a great orator, has a lot of followers on social media and is popular among the intellectual class. ‘Smart’ people love reading and listening to him.
Rahul Gandhi has been unsuccessful multiple times while addressing public rallies. People make memes about him. He is a failed leader, hasn’t achieved anything brilliant so far and a large number of people question his intelligence.
I do not want to comment on whether Rahul Gandhi is a fool or not. We all have a different view on him, let’s not waste our time debating on his image.
I directly want to come to the main question.
Why doesn’t Congress announce Shashi Tharoor as its next PM candidate when they know he is better than Rahul Gandhi in every aspect?
Answer: According to me, Rahul Gandhi is more useful to the Indian National Congress than Shashi Tharoor. Rahul Gandhi can set the stage for the Indian National Congress in the future. If the Congress wants to win more seats in the Parliament then there is no better person than Rahul Gandhi to lead the party.
Why am I saying that a failed politician is a better choice than a highly educated politician?
Because Shashi Tharoor was not born in the Nehru-Gandhi family. Rahul Gandhi is a product of the Nehru-Gandhi brand.
Rahul Gandhi is the son of our former Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi, the grandson of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and the great-grandson of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Rahul Gandhi has a blood connection with leaders who were heroes in their time. All of them received massive support from the public. They were popular among every class. This is the reason why Rahul Gandhi is even a part of Indian politics. He was elected the President of the INC just because of his family.
There are still many people in India who support the Congress because of the Gandhi-Nehru name and the party hopes that Rahul Gandhi will be able to capitalise on this.
For winning a general election in India, you need to be popular among the masses. Around 65% of Indians still live in rural areas, and they are a lot more familiar with names like Nehru and Gandhi. Therefore, Rahul Gandhi’s surname can help Congress in building their presence in rural India.
Another reason why I think Rahul Gandhi is a better candidate to be the leader of the party instead of someone like Shashi Tharoor is that the Gandhi family is helping the party stay united. The condition of the party is not good right now and I think they will suffer more if the leadership is handed over to someone else.
There are intellectuals present in almost every political party, and there are definitely many in Congress. But having intellect doesn’t mean that they have the presence to gain mass appeal or that they are good prime ministerial candidates.
The Indian National Congress needs to improve its image as they are fighting the mighty BJP. If they really want to give tough competition to a party that is growing very quickly, then Congress surely needs some massive changes. But I personally do not think that sidelining Rahul Gandhi and promoting another Congress member as the next Prime Minister is going to help the INC win the coming general elections.
I agree that Rahul Gandhi’s image is not as positive as the older Nehru-Gandhi leaders, but if he works very hard and takes some serious steps towards the welfare of the country, he can find success in the future.