After a long time, Rahul Gandhi is more visible on news channels in the wake of his bravest action marching towards Hathras and his leading presence in the farmers’ protest in Punjab. Rahul has recently spoken about the UP chief minister and the state police authorities who have been claiming that the Dalit woman was not raped because for them she was “no one.” Rahul Gandhi alleged that for most Indians Dalit, Muslim and tribal lives do not matter, “The shameful truth is many Indians don’t consider Dalits, Muslims, and Tribals to be human”. He has interfered in the issues that affected the common people due to the central government’s unpopular stands on recent political, social, and economic matters. The visibility of Rahul Gandhi in the media has, day by day, been increasing, and that way he is at the forefront of the political fights for the common citizens of the nation. He has brought the Hathras incident into the limelight of media coverage and it has been in the headlines in the international media as well.
Rahul Gandhi has faced multiple attacks and severe criticisms from the Indian media as no politician in the recent history of the nation has addressed. Most of the time, Rahul has negatively been covered in the news channels – especially in the English and Hindi media – due to the pre-planned agenda set in the newsrooms influenced and controlled by the BJP and the RSS. Rahul Gandhi has been brought in to the headlines and prime time discussions by manipulating facts and false claims by the major news channels in India. The news programmes on Rahul Gandhi by the news channels and news coverage by the dailies in the period of 2017-2019 have allegedly been recognized as the worst ‘attacking’ time so far when he has been the president of Indian National Congress. It is very interesting to check how Rahul Gandhi has successfully survived the media trails and grown as a promising political leader.
It was on 23rd May 2019; Rahul Gandhi has called for a media conference in Delhi in the aftermath of assembly elections result in the five states- Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, and Telangana. He thanked his party workers for their support after trends indicated massive gains for his party in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. He has also launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he didn’t fulfill the promises he made to the people of the country. Congress has gained a good result in the assembly polls and there are unique features for that press meet. Rahul Gandhi expressed the body language of a charismatic political leader; and he has chosen the smart way of communication. His words in the press meet were of maturity and dignity. He never insulted the failed candidates of the opponents as a part of celebrating the success. He has expressed the credit of election results to the party workers in each state and the voters. He also ensured that the Congress-led state governments will work for the common people. He never spoke about him- and that may be the best thing that a true leader can do. In the press meet, Rahul never forgot to appreciate those who defeated the Congress candidates.
The major news channels and newspapers in English and Hindi languages have positively covered Rahul Gandhi’s media conference well. Till then, they all come together to call him ‘Amul baby’, a phrase created to defame his importance in national politics. But the media surprisingly have covered him well at that time. Some of the media have appreciated his leadership too. “This is the true achievement of the farmers and youth.” Instead of mentioning the “Rahul effect”, he has given credits to the people and concluded the media conference by proclaiming that the Indian people will resume the true values of democracy.
Since 2010, the news media in India have been talking that Rahul Gandhi has no leadership quality at every moment they get to use attacking him. But, after the assembly elections in the five states, even the BJP has given up calling Rahul Gandhi an unskilled political leader; so did the media. Even Rahul faced non-stop allegations and defamation online, by the RSS made propaganda supported by the BJP IT Cell; he has successfully managed his importance in the national political scenario by his popular stand and honesty. He has been in politics for many decades and his leadership is never being spontaneous to be recognized in a single media conference in 2019. At the same time, the media which had been supporting the central government and associated with the RSS agenda have then shown the courage to cover Rahul Gandhi positively.
There have been several cartoons published in major dailies- Times of India, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, The Hindu, and what else- for diminishing and kidding Rahul Gandhi. Not one or two times; instead for many years so many cartoons poured and it has widely been circulated online as well. It all aimed at people’s opinion about Rahul as their leader and to generate public opinion to denounce him as their leader. But nothing stopped him to spend his time for the people of India and he traveled across the nation to be with the people. A good number of fake news in the name of Rahul Gandhi has also aired in the leading news channels such as Rebuplic TV, Times Now, and Zee News, etc. Arnab Goswami, the managing director and editor-in-chief of the Republic Media Network called him ‘Anti-national’, ‘Amul baby’, ‘Pakistan Agent’, and ‘Prince’ who does not understand the people. The BJP IT cell has circulated hundreds of trolls and fake content online attacking Rahul Gandhi. And no wonder how the Sangh Parivar social media pages and groups have multiplied the reach of such attacks. And several verbal cases of abuse from many opponents have come in different situations as well. In the middle of this critical situation, Rahul Gandhi has raised as a popular leader of the nation. He registered his stand and value in the minds of millions across the globe. After the Hathras incident, Rahul Gandhi’s acceptance in social media has crossed over that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
When all major media have stood for building PM Narendra Modi’s image for the last decade, Rahul Gandhi has emerged as a political brand by himself claiming no branding agency. The major difference between the images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi in the media is the originality in leadership and that the very element the PM misses out. From the Ram Janmabhoomi Puja to the inauguration of the Atal Tunnel at Rohtang at an altitude of above 3,000 metres in Himachal Pradesh, the appearance of Narendra Modi miss the originality, and in my personal opinion the majority of Indian people who see all these pre-planned image creations as fake attempts.
Rahul Gandhi always expected an attack from the media. Because he has grown and survived in the middle of such allegations and false claims and no media has stopped him. He has openly criticized the central government many times and the media manipulated it as anti-government opinion is anti-national. And media never recognized his growth has come true not in a single day; as he has been facing and experiencing political challenges from childhood. He has learned politics and its meaning from the true politicians in his own family. He has kept his political tradition well. Therefore, he has shown extraordinary political leader on some occasions and the opponents especially the BJP has never expected his political move. In 2018, when the BJP tried ‘Operation Kamala’ to catch the Congress MLAs in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi has successfully managed to take down the BJP led Karnataka government. He has hugged PM Narendra Modi in the parliament and on many such moments he has been the central point of news coverage.
Not for political shows off, Rahul Gandhi has traveled in the local train in Mumbai in 2010 even ten years before Delhi CM Aravind Kejriwal has traveled in the Delhi metro in the time of the assembly polls. Rahul has reached Ajmer Darga even at a time the BJP led propaganda of communal divide has reached across the nation. Every myth, created and circulated in the media has started failing and the public who listen to the media have started reacting online about the fake news and manipulating facts. It seems that Rahul Gandhi never fought for media misrepresentation; instead, he fought for the people to get their rights and justice. He has successfully managed the courage to defend communal attempts and dividing people as per the religion and caste. And no threat, even the central government registered many cases against him recently, stopped him.
In any critical situation, Rahul Gandhi has never gone for polarizing society by promoting communal elements. When the media have dominantly managed the RSS agenda based on communal hatred to divide people, especially for the last ten years, Rahul firmly stood for communal harmony and national integrity. He has shaped himself by addressing every allegation made on news media screens and newspaper columns breaking all odds that normally a politician goes for; counter-attack or justifying or new allegations. He is never afraid of the media agenda which is always meant to defame his political career. That is why when Arnab Goswami roars at his Republic TV’s newsroom attacking Rahul Gandhi, he is always busy outside in the middle of people to serve the nation. As an idealist politician, he never goes to the safe zone; even it is an easy way for him. Rahul takes challenges and addresses it; even it is from media that are aligned to the extreme right-wing Hindutva politics. Media trails go on, but Indian people have started thinking of Rahul Gandhi as their next promising Prime Minister by his powerful stand for the nation and its citizens.
