The Namesake

IN SHAHDA, MALEGON AND NASIK

Deep in the outback of Maharashtra, in a sleepy little place called Malegaon, Bharatiya Janata Party'scandidate for the state assembly, Prasad Hire, was addressing a public meeting that had drawn a goodly crowd,a large part of it sporting Gandhi caps. Even though he was speaking in the local dialect, it was easy to makeout that the speech was a scathing criticism of the Congress peppered with adulatory mentions of PramodMahajan and Bal Thackeray.

It was a little odd since Hire's family had been in the Congress fold for a long time before crossing over.His father, Baliram, had served as a minister in past Congress governments in the state. However, given thenature of our politics, the youthful candidate's attack on the Congress was not entirely out of place. He hadillustrious company, in a manner of speaking, in Feroze Varun Gandhi who seemed to think otherwise, though.

Sitting on the dais, waiting for his turn on the mike, Gandhi told Hire to hurry up since another publicmeeting was scheduled soon after. However, not much of this hurry was in evidence when Gandhi's turn to speakcame. In his characteristic languorous manner when addressing the public--it suits his slightly beefy six-footframe--Gandhi began: "A lot of people told me to say that this (Congress-NCP) government and this(sitting) MLA have not done anything. I won't do that because in this accusation and counter-accusation, thepublic suffers. I want a different kind of politics."

As the crowd cheered and applauded, the young Gandhi continued in chaste Hindi, "Everyone knows thatevery party is full of corrupt people. The system is to blame, the society is to blame. New people, new hopes,new trust must spring if your area is to prosper.". But that was not all. Going into detail, it was thecrowd's question to be confronted with a question: "Have you ever wondered what the Malegaon MP has donewith the Rs 2 crore he got as constituency development fund? The poor must organise themselves to be heard.Only then can this country develop."

The best was yet to come. "Leaders have been delivering the same speeches for 50 years, promising anew world," said Gandhi, as some more vitriol dripped off his tongue, "in the process, they havemerely built swank new houses for themselves."

Was this an election rally, you pinched yourself. Was this speaker BJP's trump card acquired to nullify thesurname advantage enjoyed by Sonia-Rahul-Priyanka? In fact, Varun Gandhi's campaign had been carefully plannedto make an impact in the Nandurbar area, which has been a Congress bastion for a long time and where SoniaGandhi had launched her political career in 1998 by addressing a rally.

However, nowhere during the campaign has Varun Gandhi agreed to provide a counterpoint to his aunt orcousins; nowhere did he launch even a semblance of an attack on them. His speeches in Shahda, Nasik andelsewhere were similar in content to the one in Malegon.

While his speeches do draw cheer from the large crowds that throng his meetings, they leave some peopleconfused. One BJP worker, for instance, just could not fathom why Gandhi couldn't attack the rival parties."He criticises everyone. At this rate, all the votes may go to the rebel candidates (there are a largenumber of them)."

So how long can Varun Gandhi carry on with this before the worker-level confusion translates intoleader-level antagonism in his party?

He does not seem too perturbed by the prospect. "I have a philosophy. I speak the truth. I stand by mystatements. Who is the person that I want to be? It is a person who speaks the truth. People have beenconditioned by the same rhetoric. They want something new. I can help be the catalyst."

Um, all right. But what is he playing at? By criticising the entire system, obviously inclusive of allmainline parties, would he be making too many friends? What does he stand to gain? "I am not in this forglamour, position, fame or money. By God's grace, I already have all that. I want to make a difference and adifference needs to be made."

While this statement remains open to conclusions, one thing is sure. In an issue-less Maharashtra campaign-- a good monsoon has diluted anti-incumbency, Thackeray's illness has restricted the flow of sleaze, Savarkarand Tiranga have fizzled out, Vidarbha state issue has not got Shiv Sena's support and the large number ofrebel candidates in all parties has compounded voter confusion, and the Maharashtra campaign seems quitebereft of any real issues -- Varun Gandhi is providing at least a point of immense interest.