Rahul Gandhi and the art of political communication

Rahul Gandhi turned a challenge from the Shiv Sena into an opportunity to reach out to a cross-section of Mumbai. He outwitted Sena leaders as he met people on the street, rode a local train and interacted with college students during his visit to the city on Friday. In the process, he not only blunted Sena’s lowbrow rhetoric but also presented himself as an amiable and concerned politician very different from the average neta in town. At the end of the day-long trip, Rahul’s mass politics stood in total contrast to Sena’s mob politics.

Rahul’s Mumbai visit – even if not as spontaneous as Congress spin doctors claim – followed a pattern that he has been following for some time. His mass contact programmes in UP, Bihar and elsewhere, have focused on redefining the relationship between the leader and the voter. It is premised on the idea that a politician must mingle with the masses and listen to them. For a while, the neta has been distancing himself from the voter, preferring to lecture vacuously to the masses from podiums.

There is a lesson for other politicians in Rahul’s mass contact initiatives. The young Congress general secretary recognises that old forms of political communication are outdated in this era of technology. Television today has enormous reach and political activities can be transmitted to homes across the country. It’s important to tailor one’s political behaviour to make the best out of the possibilities offered by television.

That’s not limited to being articulate in TV debates but also conducting mass politics in a manner that appeals to TV audiences as well. These platforms are increasingly more effective to send a political message to voters, compared to older forms of mobilisation such as strikes and bandhs.

Similarly, the language employed by the leader also matters. Rahul’s political talk mostly centres on issues like inclusive development. That’s forward looking when compared to the disruptive agenda espoused by the likes of the Thackerays. The Congress leader has also spotted a constituency in the youth who form a significant chunk of voters. His chemistry with young citizens – no doubt, helped by the aura around the Dynasty – is also because he offers a positive vision that appeals to them and stands apart from the stale rhetoric of the day. Other politicians are advised to counter this threat if they want to compete with the Gandhi scion.