After Gujarat election, Rahul Gandhi has emerged as a leader. He looks more confident of himself. His body language is different. He is seen as willing to take risks. Unlike his past, he did not show any diffidence. He was able to organize a caste coalition of Patidars, Thakurs and Dalits.
He showed gumption in not playing to Muslim voters. His strategy did pay him dividends, but was not good enough to win the battle. Rahuls image makeover as a Hindu leader was also a big gamble.
Rahul’s gamble of shedding his traditional tag as a pro-Muslim leader also did not help. He visited temple after temple. He tried to prove that he is as good a Hindu as Modi, but it seems that voters opted for a “real” Hindu than a “turncoat”.
Now the anti-Modi forces will unite under the Congress umbrella and have to fight the coming elections. One can it will be the ganging up of the splinter groups under Rahul and have to strike against Modi.
