Tea with Rahul
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 11 2012 -

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi at Hapta Kangjeibung, Imphal on December 10 2012 :: Pix - David M Mayum

As they say, like father like son, the penchant of Rahul Gandhi just like his late father Rajiv Gandhi to break security cordon in an attempt to reach out to the masses is something well-known and documented.

In fact, this is a trait they have inherited from Indira Gandhi, who was even more efficient in playing the game to perfection.

The crowd simply went wild and lapped up whenever Indira Gandhi chided the police at almost every public gathering she addressed, saying, "Aap police-wale hat jai-ye... kyon hamaare aur hamare Janta ke beech aate hain aap? Matt kijiye janta ko tum!" (You policemen, move aside! Why do you come between me and my people? Stop harassing the people!)

Today, the grandson and the projected future Prime Ministerial candidate of Indian National Congress seems to have learnt the lesson well both from his father as well as his illustrious grand-mother and he does not leave out any opportunity from going out of his way to mix around with the common man on the streets wherever he goes, thus, giving that rare momentary glory of hogging the limelight.

Whether it was his much publicized visit to the house of Kalavati Bandurkar, the Vidarbha farm widow, whose plight he later highlighted in Parliament in 2009 or eating meal at the house of Kunjilal, a Dalit farmer in Mendhki village of Jhansi district in Uttar Pradesh in October, 2011, the scion of Gandhi dynasty has been very good at giving that momentary glory to the common man.

Rahul Gandhi's two and a half hour-long visit to Imphal on December 10 to address a State level convention for elected members of local bodies has been no exception.

On his return journey to the airport after addressing the convention at Hafta Kangjeibung, Rahul made an unexpected stopover at a roadside tea stall along Tiddim Road at Sangaiprou to take a sip or two and also taste some locally manufactured foods.

Of course, there should be nothing surprising over this 'wayward' conduct of Rahul given his track record of breaking security cordon in a desperate attempt to reach out to the people.

Leading a cloistered lifestyle surrounded by security personnel and close knitted family members only, this is the only way to connect with the people.

But how far this attempt has been successful in actually highlighting the problems of common man is altogether a different thing.

Even after taking up the issue of Vidarbha farm widows in Parliament, no visible change had been ever brought about in the family of Kalavati Bandurkar who remains sunken in the never ending cycle of debts, thus compelling even one of her daughters to commit suicide after the much published visit of the Gandhi scion to their humble cottage.

Anyway, whether we call this unexpected stopover at the Sangaiprou tea stall just another political gimmickry or anything else; at least there is something that our political netas, who, after being elected by the people as their representatives, always prefer to remain on top of their ivory towers, could learn from this 'madness'.