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| Risk-Averse Gandhi’s Move Rattles Indian Election | Risk-Averse Gandhi’s Move Rattles Indian Election |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| NEW DELHI — As India’s ruling dynasty hurtles toward an important and unpredictable election season, many of its pressing questions have converged into one: Can its heir apparent, Rahul Gandhi, project the message of political change that this country seems to crave? | NEW DELHI — As India’s ruling dynasty hurtles toward an important and unpredictable election season, many of its pressing questions have converged into one: Can its heir apparent, Rahul Gandhi, project the message of political change that this country seems to crave? |
| As angry crowds here have materialized around issues like corruption and policing, Mr. Gandhi, 43, has often seemed to lag behind the public mood: a handsome face, blessed with a magical name, but embodying a tarnished, risk-averse status quo. | As angry crowds here have materialized around issues like corruption and policing, Mr. Gandhi, 43, has often seemed to lag behind the public mood: a handsome face, blessed with a magical name, but embodying a tarnished, risk-averse status quo. |
| This was the time Mr. Gandhi made his move. | This was the time Mr. Gandhi made his move. |
| He charged unannounced into the middle of a Congress Party news conference on Friday, and eviscerated as “complete nonsense” an initiative backed by his own party that would have granted extralegal protections to elected officials facing criminal charges. In a political culture that runs on vague consensus and muted signals, it was a jaw-dropping act of defiance — in particular to India’s 81-year-old prime minister, Manmohan Singh, then on a high-profile visit to Washington. | He charged unannounced into the middle of a Congress Party news conference on Friday, and eviscerated as “complete nonsense” an initiative backed by his own party that would have granted extralegal protections to elected officials facing criminal charges. In a political culture that runs on vague consensus and muted signals, it was a jaw-dropping act of defiance — in particular to India’s 81-year-old prime minister, Manmohan Singh, then on a high-profile visit to Washington. |
| But it worked. All Wednesday, television cameramen posted themselves amid the shrubbery outside closed-door meetings, as the Congress Party’s old guard held a flurry of talks to decide what to do about Mr. Gandhi’s maneuver. By nightfall, the government coalition announced that it would withdraw the ordinance because of public opposition, and Mr. Gandhi had racked up a crisp political victory. | But it worked. All Wednesday, television cameramen posted themselves amid the shrubbery outside closed-door meetings, as the Congress Party’s old guard held a flurry of talks to decide what to do about Mr. Gandhi’s maneuver. By nightfall, the government coalition announced that it would withdraw the ordinance because of public opposition, and Mr. Gandhi had racked up a crisp political victory. |
| “Let’s see how Rahul shapes up — he has taken a big step forward,” said Rasheed Kidwai, the author of an admiring biography of Sonia Gandhi, Mr. Gandhi’s mother. “He is taking a great risk, because the Congress Party is allergic to change.” | |
| In fact, the suspense over the fate of the ordinance on Wednesday seemed artificial. Though it might have protected some crucial Congress allies, its timing was dismal politically, given rising public anger over official corruption, and India’s president had expressed hesitation about signing it. | In fact, the suspense over the fate of the ordinance on Wednesday seemed artificial. Though it might have protected some crucial Congress allies, its timing was dismal politically, given rising public anger over official corruption, and India’s president had expressed hesitation about signing it. |
| But the confusion and frustration over Mr. Gandhi’s behavior seemed genuine enough. Often criticized for remaining aloof from the political process, he had broken a number of unwritten rules that serve to protect the party from undue risk. For one thing, it would have been a simple enough matter for him, as the party’s vice president, to kill the ordinance quietly at an earlier stage. | But the confusion and frustration over Mr. Gandhi’s behavior seemed genuine enough. Often criticized for remaining aloof from the political process, he had broken a number of unwritten rules that serve to protect the party from undue risk. For one thing, it would have been a simple enough matter for him, as the party’s vice president, to kill the ordinance quietly at an earlier stage. |
| He had also departed from one of his mother’s ground rules: a meticulous display of respect for Mr. Singh, her loyal, soft-spoken prime minister, who has proved politically weak during a punishing season for Congress. | He had also departed from one of his mother’s ground rules: a meticulous display of respect for Mr. Singh, her loyal, soft-spoken prime minister, who has proved politically weak during a punishing season for Congress. |
| Events of the last few years — corruption scandals and a drumbeat of demand for new laws — have transformed the political landscape in India, leaving leaders scrambling for new approaches, said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi. Meanwhile, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate, Narendra Modi, 63, is attracting throngs to rallies slamming Congress, leading one young crowd in an Obama-esque chant of “Yes, we can!” | Events of the last few years — corruption scandals and a drumbeat of demand for new laws — have transformed the political landscape in India, leaving leaders scrambling for new approaches, said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi. Meanwhile, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate, Narendra Modi, 63, is attracting throngs to rallies slamming Congress, leading one young crowd in an Obama-esque chant of “Yes, we can!” |
| “There is a clamor for change of some kind, and what Rahul seems to be saying, is, ‘Let me catch up with that clamor,’ ” Mr. Mehta said. “There is a sense in both parties, for good and for ill, that you can’t do politics as usual. But they’re kind of groping around to understand what that means.” | “There is a clamor for change of some kind, and what Rahul seems to be saying, is, ‘Let me catch up with that clamor,’ ” Mr. Mehta said. “There is a sense in both parties, for good and for ill, that you can’t do politics as usual. But they’re kind of groping around to understand what that means.” |
| He was skeptical, however, that Mr. Gandhi would benefit much from outmuscling the much older prime minister. | He was skeptical, however, that Mr. Gandhi would benefit much from outmuscling the much older prime minister. |
| “One thing that Rahul had going for him — there was a sense that people didn’t know what he stood for, but he gave the impression that he was a sincere guy,” Mr. Mehta said. “The fact that he could humiliate the office of the prime minister in the way that he did, and do it with someone as loyal as Manmohan Singh — it’s not clear that it’s inspired people to go along with him as a leader.” | “One thing that Rahul had going for him — there was a sense that people didn’t know what he stood for, but he gave the impression that he was a sincere guy,” Mr. Mehta said. “The fact that he could humiliate the office of the prime minister in the way that he did, and do it with someone as loyal as Manmohan Singh — it’s not clear that it’s inspired people to go along with him as a leader.” |
| Mr. Gandhi has never held a cabinet-level post, though they have been offered, and at times it has been unclear whether he wanted to lead India at all. He is absent from the noisy policy debates that define political life here and, like his mother, avoids contact with the news media. | Mr. Gandhi has never held a cabinet-level post, though they have been offered, and at times it has been unclear whether he wanted to lead India at all. He is absent from the noisy policy debates that define political life here and, like his mother, avoids contact with the news media. |
| But his lineage made him a sensation, and Congress has offered him as a symbol of generational change. During his early campaigns, near-stampedes would break out when he toured villages, crossing carpets of rose petals and shaking so many hands that, by the end of one day on the road, his right hand was wrapped in bandages. | But his lineage made him a sensation, and Congress has offered him as a symbol of generational change. During his early campaigns, near-stampedes would break out when he toured villages, crossing carpets of rose petals and shaking so many hands that, by the end of one day on the road, his right hand was wrapped in bandages. |
| Mr. Gandhi’s family has led modern India for most of its 66-year history. If he becomes prime minister, he will follow in the footsteps of his father, Rajiv; his grandmother, Indira; and his great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru. Still, he has occasionally donned the mantle of an internal dissident. This year, shortly after becoming the party’s vice president, he delivered a speech that sharply criticized the over-concentration of power in India. It was a paradoxical stance, given that power is concentrated in the hands of his own family. | Mr. Gandhi’s family has led modern India for most of its 66-year history. If he becomes prime minister, he will follow in the footsteps of his father, Rajiv; his grandmother, Indira; and his great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru. Still, he has occasionally donned the mantle of an internal dissident. This year, shortly after becoming the party’s vice president, he delivered a speech that sharply criticized the over-concentration of power in India. It was a paradoxical stance, given that power is concentrated in the hands of his own family. |
| “Why is our youth angry?” he asked in the speech. “Why are they out on the street? They are angry because they are alienated. They are excluded from the political class.” | “Why is our youth angry?” he asked in the speech. “Why are they out on the street? They are angry because they are alienated. They are excluded from the political class.” |
| Jatin Gandhi, the co-author of “Rahul,” a 2012 biography (and no relation), said Mr. Gandhi and his advisers were likely “elated” by Wednesday’s events, in part because Mr. Gandhi had managed to grab the spotlight from Mr. Modi. The dust-up, he said, reflected the “national mood” in an electorate restless for change and overwhelmingly dominated by young people, but hardly represented a clash between generations. | Jatin Gandhi, the co-author of “Rahul,” a 2012 biography (and no relation), said Mr. Gandhi and his advisers were likely “elated” by Wednesday’s events, in part because Mr. Gandhi had managed to grab the spotlight from Mr. Modi. The dust-up, he said, reflected the “national mood” in an electorate restless for change and overwhelmingly dominated by young people, but hardly represented a clash between generations. |
| “We are a young nation, and we have a very large representation within the political classes,” he said. “But most of the young people in politics are actually from dynasties. You don’t question the wisdom of your mother and father if you inherited your position from them.” | “We are a young nation, and we have a very large representation within the political classes,” he said. “But most of the young people in politics are actually from dynasties. You don’t question the wisdom of your mother and father if you inherited your position from them.” |