Gandhi siblings shine in INDIA’s stellar show

From ‘pappu’ to ‘shehzade’, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been the prime target of BJP’s ridicule for years. Jabs at the Gandhi family have been the BJP leader’s main line of attack at the main opposition Congress in every election over the past decade. But as Congress inches towards a 100-seat tally in this Lok Sabha election — its best show in a decade — and the INDIA bloc’s tally defies all exit polls, the Gandhi siblings have played a central role.

Rahul virtually launched his campaign with a Bharat Jodo Yatra across the length and breadth of the country. While the actual impact of the yatra in terms of Lok Sabha seats won is a subject of data and debate, there is no doubt that his public interactions on the trail brought him out of television screens to the people and contributed to shattering the perception the BJP had created of him.

Visuals of Rahul petting puppies, hugging people and chatting with people from every section of the society, from students to truck drivers to mechanics, showed a side of him the country had not seen before.

As for Priyanka Gandhi, many had expected her to contest the polls this time, and questions were raised when she did not. In her response, Priyanka has said in several interviews that it was a conscious decision. If both she and Rahul contested the election, they would get tied up with campaigning in one constituency, she had said, adding that the plan was to keep her free for rallies.

As Rahul travelled across the country to address rallies of the INDIA bloc, Priyanka also took up the task of leading the Congress’s campaign in family strongholds Amethi and Raebareli.

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