Large political protests serve several purposes. For a party that is in despair, it can serve as a source of new energy and momentum. If a top leader is targeted, the protest can also serve as a show of loyalty and solidarity.
Congress was probably expecting both as a crowd of its leaders reached Delhi to march on Monday Rahul Gandhi In the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office against his summoning in the National Herald case. But will it help the party garner public support to grab power, especially when the central issue is corruption?
Such mass protests by the Congress or other opposition parties have been missing, for example, when bulldozers are underway in Uttar Pradesh, including Prayagraj, on Sunday, an issue that has angered minorities. Those who believe they are being targeted. Congress’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra did not even tweet about this.
Asaduddin Owaisi is raising voice of protest against bulldozers and minority hatred, stealing a march on Congress. Similarly, such massive street protests by the Congress over the issue of inflation and price rise have recently disappeared, an issue that troubles the common man. The party had last campaigned in this matter in March.
The presence of the top leadership of the Congress on both these issues has been mostly not on the streets but on social media. Conversely, when its real leader is summoned in a corruption case, the entire party takes to the streets, may not function in the public eye the way Congress envisions and in some cases I can be in reverse.
The public mood is already against dynasty politics and the UPA was thrown out of power on the issue of corruption. Rallying on the streets for Rahul Gandhi shows that the party is still stuck in the old dynastic era, instead of allowing him to face the law in a dignified manner. Events may reinforce the idea that the Congress only cares about the Gandhi family.
That said, the ham-fisted approach to not allowing peaceful protests or pickets and deploying heavy police forces to disrupt it gives strength to Congress’s argument that the government does not tolerate dissent. With the ED summoning its top leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, the party had a political opportunity to sniff out a conspiracy and make noise about it.
It is simply that protest may not go down well with ordinary people when they have their own problems.
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