There is a certain bounce in Rahul Gandhi’s step and a quiet determination to showcase his "shop of love in the market of hatred” on this American journey with the confidence, no doubt, coming from the Congress Party’s recent Karnataka victory.
A united opposition can defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2024, said the newly energised leader, in an attempt to rally the diaspora, large sections of which have leaned heavily in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP in recent years. But there are “hidden undercurrents” of discontent with the ruling dispensation, said Gandhi, which he detected during his "Bharat Jodo” yatra. He also said the next two or three state Assembly Elections could spring more surprises for the BJP. He was clearly having a good time at the expense of the party in power.
Being disqualified from the Parliament is an advantage, Gandhi said because it has opened "new spaces” for him whether the BJP realises it or not. “Politics is not linear. It is asymmetric. The BJP has given me a gift … they may not realise it. But they have,” he said. Clearly, living off the energy from the yatra, the Congress leader was turning the tables on the ruling party. To get the maximum sentence for a defamation case told its own story and he repeated it for maximum benefit.