Most strategically constructed, Rahul's Parliament speech a solo act in franchise era

I am compelled to refer to a blog by communications expert Tushar Panchal titled "The Grip, the Choke, and the Follow-Through." Forwarded to me by a friend, it calls Rahul Gandhi's Parliament intervention on February 11, 2026, the "most strategically constructed speech of his parliamentary career."

Panchal says it wasn't Rahul's most passionate — he has done passionate before — nor his most emotional — Bharat Jodo gave him that. This was different. Rahul walked into Parliament, explained how a jujitsu chokehold works, accused the Prime Minister of surrendering India, dropped the Epstein files, and walked out. "The BJP spent 72 hours reacting. Not leading. Reacting. One speech does not win elections. But it tells you someone is finally learning how."

Panchal adds: "The government that controls every domestic narrative was caught in a narrative set by someone else. The party that always sets the agenda found itself on the back foot, explaining, denying, threatening expunction, filing motions — all of which only amplified the original story."

I am compelled to refer to this blog not for praising Rahul, whose "jujitsu speech" Panchal says reveals he is "learning faster in Indian politics," but for pointing to why Congress wouldn't gain from it.

Let me quote Panchal here:

"Rahul Gandhi delivered a brilliant parliamentary performance. The question is: does it matter outside Parliament?

"Modi's communication dominance was never built on parliamentary speeches. It was built on rallies, social media, Mann Ki Baat, WhatsApp forwards, friendly television anchors, and a party machinery that translates the leader's messaging to every booth in the country. The BJP's communication chain runs from the PM's office to the last party worker in the last village in the last constituency.

"The farmer in Madhya Pradesh who votes for the BJP is unlikely to watch a 45-minute Lok Sabha speech. He will receive a WhatsApp forward of the BJP's counter — 'Rahul called Bharat Mata a sellout' — without any context, the jujitsu metaphor, or the Economic Survey citations. The BJP has spent a decade building a translation layer between Parliament and the voter. Congress has not."

Calling it "the franchise versus the solo act," Panchal adds: "Rahul's rebrand made him better. It did not make Congress better. The jujitsu speech confirms this. One man in one House for one session can dominate the narrative. But elections are not won in Parliament. They are won at the booth. And at the booth, it is not Rahul's name on the ballot in 500 constituencies. It is a Congress candidate who carries none of this new equity."

Comments

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. I don't know who owns this site, for there is nothing on it in the About Us link. It merely says, the Nashik Corporation site "is an educational and news website of the municipal corporation. Today, education and payment of tax are completely online." It goes on to add, "So we provide some of the latest information about Property Tax, Water Tax, Marriage Certificate, Caste Certificate, etc. So all taxpayer can get all information of their municipal in a single place.some facts about legal and financial issues that different city corporations face, but I was least interested in them." Surely, this didn't interest...

Disappearing schools: India's education landscape undergoing massive changes

The other day, I received a message from education rights activist Mitra Ranjan, who claims that a whopping one lakh schools across India have been closed down or merged. This seemed unbelievable at first sight. The message from the activist, who is from the advocacy group Right to Education (RTE) Forum, states that this is happening as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, which floated the idea of school integration/consolidation.

'Shameful lies': Ambedkar defamed, Godse glorified? Dalit leader vows legal battle

A few days back, I was a little surprised to receive a Hindi article in plain text format from veteran Gujarat Dalit rights leader Valjibhai Patel , known for waging many legal battles under the banner of the Council of Social Justice (CSJ) on behalf of socially oppressed communities.

Varnashram Dharma: How Gandhi's views evolved, moved closer to Ambedkar's

My interaction with critics and supporters of Mahatma Gandhi, ranging from those who consider themselves diehard Gandhians to Left-wing and Dalit intellectuals, has revealed that in the long arc of his public life, few issues expose his philosophical tensions more than his shifting stance on Varnashram Dharma—the ancient Hindu concept that society should be divided into four varnas, or classes, based on duties and aptitudes.

The tribal woman who carried freedom in her songs... and my family’s secret in her memory

It was a pleasant surprise to come across a short yet crisp article by the well-known Gujarat-based scholar Gaurang Jani , former head of the Sociology Department at Gujarat University , on a remarkable grand old lady of Vedcchi Ashram —an educational institute founded by Mahatma Gandhi in South Gujarat in the early years of the freedom movement.

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

Top Hindu builder ties up with Muslim investor for a huge minority housing society in Ahmedabad

There is a flutter in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur area, derogatorily referred to as the "border" because, on its eastern side, there is a sprawling minority area called Juhapura, where around five lakh Muslims live. The segregation is so stark that virtually no Muslim lives in Vejalpur, populated by around four lakh Hindus, and no Hindu lives in Juhapura.

Not a natural disaster; climate crisis driven by support to fossil fuel tycoons: Expert

India must confront its accelerating ecological emergency with systemic reforms rather than symbolic gestures, climate and energy expert Soumya Dutta warned during an interactive workshop in Ahmedabad titled “India’s Environmental Crisis: Where Do We Go From Here Living?”. Introduced by Jesuit activist Cedric Prakash as both a scientist and people’s movement organiser, Dutta said India was already facing life-threatening consequences of environmental neglect.

100 yrs of RSS as seen by global media house: Power, controversy, push for Hindu-first India

On a blistering summer evening in Nagpur, nearly a thousand men in brown trousers, white shirts, and black caps stood in formation as a saffron flag was raised, marking a graduation ceremony for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers. This vivid scene, described in a recent FT Weekend Magazine article, “A hundred years after it was founded, India's Hindu-nationalist movement is getting closer to its goal of a Hindu-first state,” captures the enduring presence of the RSS, a century-old Hindu-nationalist organization.

Search This Blog