Last week, Rahul’s attribution of Naxalism to lack of development and states’ inability to reach out to people, for instance, only reiterated the Congress’s long-held stance on this issue that invariably bracketed the law and order aspect with socio-economic problems at its roots. The party’s thinking was often encapsulated by Sonia Gandhi’s description of Naxalites as “misguided youth”.

Barely 48 hours after Rahul pronounced the party line on this issue, the Congress made a significant shift de-coupling the law and order aspect from the socio-economic aspect and recommending “firm” action against those who believe in violence “and nothing else”.

Again, days after the Congress expressed outrage against Union Minister Shashi Tharoor for his defiance of the party’s diktat on austerity by staying in a five-star hotel and then ridiculing it on Twitter by his infamous cattle class remark, Tharoor got succour from unexpected quarters. Last Wednesday, Rahul declared in Thiruvananthapuram, “Shashi Tharoorji is a Minister of State also. So, he has to also spend a lot of time in travelling. So, it is bit unfair to say you know he comes, at times, on computer. I have spoken to him a couple of times between and after the elections and I get a sense that he is working hard for the country.”

Rahul’s support failed to mollify the Congress as was evident from the editorial of the Congress Sandesh, the party mouthpiece that was released on Saturday. “Being wealthy does not by itself give us a right to spend as we please. People who have nothing to do with the basic values of life normally end up offering wrong reasoning to hide their violation of values,” said the editorial in an apparent jibe at Tharoor.

These were only the latest instances of incompatibility between the current establishment of the Congress, in terms of its institutional response to issues, and the party’s heir apparent. Consider a few more examples:

n In Chennai last month, Rahul opposed the inter-linking of rivers project saying, “We should not play with nature on such a massive scale.” While the Congress had never opposed the project, the UPA government had actively sought to implement it in its first term. After Rahul’s opposition, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh was quick to seize the opportunity and term the project a “disaster”. Although the Congress later tried to wriggle out of the situation stating that the jury was still out on different aspects of the project and nobody was accepting or rejecting it, the party refrained from endorsing Rahul’s views.

n Engaged in a debate on 27 per cent OBC quota by students of a university in Uttarakhand last year, Rahul did not support it unequivocally as the party had. He said he would look beyond reservation and would rather have more educational institutions that would make the entire issue irrelevant. His declaration that he does “not believe in caste (system),” may have upset quite a few party leaders.

n A propagator of internal democracy in the party, Rahul chose to voice his reservation against dynastic politics as also the role of money. Though his remarks did generate some debate in the party, there were few takers as is evident from the way family members and relatives of leaders unfailingly managed to get party tickets in elections.

Rahul had caused a flutter in the party in May this year when he favoured the one-man-one-post system. Explaining why he decided not to join the government, he said he believed in doing one piece of work at one point of time and therefore, would stick to his plans for the Youth Congress and the NSUI. But there are about half-a-dozen ministers who also hold the office of AICC general secretaries and states in-charge.

The Congress seems ill at ease with Rahul’s radical approach that seem to challenge its century-old thought process and functioning.

According to Rahul’s aides, his ideas were formulated after sound and informed reasoning, and debates with experts as also empirical experience. His opposition to inter-linking of rivers project, for instance, is traced to his long association with Sunderlal Bahuguna — right from the days Bahuguna visited St Stephen’s for lectures when Rahul was a student. “It is not an instructive approach. He is only putting forth an idea for an informed debate,” said one of his close aides.

A Youth Congress leader pointed out that Rahul was addressing the youth who were already disenchanted with politics. Out-of-the-box thinking and a fresh approach to politics and governance were required to inspire and motivate them to take interest in the nation’s development , he said.

In the last Assembly elections in UP, Rahul had prepared a huge database of candidates and interviewed them personally. His questions during the interview — for instance, how many LPG connections are there in your constituency? How many people have got job cards under NREGA? What do you want to do for your constituency? — would unnerve ticket aspirants who had come armed with caste statistics.

However, faced with non-cooperation from party leaders, Rahul stopped taking interest in the ticket distribution exercise — except to recommend some Youth Congress candidates — in subsequent elections.

For now, he seems to have decided to address the larger constituency of youth and make them the instrument of change in the country’s polity, including his own party.

Canvassing on campus

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi has been doing the rounds of college campuses across the country, telling youth what he plans to do for them and how they can chip in.

Ramnagar

Uttarakhand, October 20, 2008

Interacting with girl students at a resort adjoining Jim Corbett National Park here, Rahul said, “If I had not come from my family, I wouldn’t be here. You can enter the system either through family or friends or money. Without family, friends or money, you cannot enter the system. My father was in politics. My grandmother and great grandfather were in politics. So, it was easy for me to enter politics. This is a problem. I am a symptom of this problem. I want to change it.”

H N Bahuguna Garhwal University

Uttarakhand, October 20, 2008

“We don’t ask people to ask questions. When I was studying at St. Stephen’s, asking a question was not (perceived to be) good in our class.”

“I am open to that (reservation in educational institutions). But we should focus on solving the problem. Let’s not worry about how the seats are divided. The problem is there are not many seats and that is why this is an issue. If the number of seats in India becomes unlimited, would reservation be relevant? So, let’s not start dividing people.”

Don Bosco Institute

Guwahati, July 22, 2009

“India is yours and you are Indians... never feel isolated. Travel the country for exposure.”

Jawaharlal Nehru University

New Delhi, September 30, 2009

“The UPA govt aims at distribution of growth, but the Left only talks of distribution. They have no way to grow.”

Maharaja’s College

Kochi, October 7, 2009

To a question on why there could not be a common curriculum for all universities and colleges in the country, Rahul reportedly said, “India is a diverse country with a lot of cultural differences from region to region. It would not be apt to have the same curriculum in Uttar Pradesh as that in southern India.”

“Hiking the salary of the people’s representatives is not the answer to fight corruption. Members of the Parliament and the Assemblies are already drawing decent salaries. Moreover, can we expect US president Obama’s salary in India?”

St Theresa’s College

Ernakulam, October 7, 2009

Advice to budding politicians: “Just listen to people and ask questions.”

Mar Ivaniose College

Thiruvananthapuram, October 7, 2009

“It is not a must that one should be a minister to serve the nation. Now, I am focusing on strengthening the Youth Congress and the NSU. A ministership would have hampered me from undertaking these types of interactions.”

Farook College

Kozhikode, October 7, 2009

“Service-oriented youths should enter politics. In future, the Congress candidates for elections would not be decided in closed-door discussions. You would be asked to pick up your own candidates.”

Himachal Pradesh University

Shimla, October 13, 2009

“The Bharatiya Janata Party has 1,000-year-old ideas. They are only talking about Jinnah, which is history. I at least can not think about Jinnah even for five seconds... not for one second. He is gone, finished. We should think of the future, not the past.”