Why Rahul Gandhi's speeches are not as foolish as they sound

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has begun to directly attack the BJP now. During his recent poll rallies in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi has tried to fuel an anti-incumbency mood among his audience by targetting the BJP. His attack against the BJP is mainly two-pronged. One, he has criticised the opposition party as a pro-rich party which underlines development of the better-off people and ignores the poor and two, flaying the saffron party over its 'communal' identity.

On Thursday, Rahul said in Indore that the BJP is a party that practises politics of air-conditioners and corporate houses and also accused it of inciting communal flare-up in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. He even went to the extent of saying that the Pakistanis were taking advantage of this division and approached riot victims in the state to invite them to join terror groups.

"They have stoked the flames, now who will douse them?", asked the Congress vice-president.

On Wednesday while addressing another rally in the same state, Gandhi went to the past and mentioned the assassination of his grandmother and father. He attacked the BJP also at that occasion, accusing it of creating division. He even apprehended a similar fate like his predecessors.

While Narendra Modi is trying to win India, Rahul is wooing Bharat

It will be interesting to see how the BJP acts from here. On Thursday, a BJP leader lashed out at Rahul Gandhi for his comment and also questioned how the intelligence officials can brief a person who does not hold any official position in the government. This he said in reaction to Gandhi's words that an intelligence official told him about the situation in Muzaffarnagar.

It's a pursuit of an alternative votebank

The educated urban and intellectuals have been making fun at Rahul Gandhi's apparently dumb speeches. But the man is surely setting the agenda for his party which is to win the hearts of the poor and backward sections. The Congress knows it has no chance of matching the popularity of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi among the urban middle classes and is now desperately looking to make up that loss with the blessings of the rural poor. One fact explains this well.

Indore is already ranked 5th, yet Rahul is stressing the point

On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi told his audience that Indore should finds its place among the top five business destinations. This remark surprised many for Indore, according to a recent survey of Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management, is already in the fifth position. But for a geographically distant voter, such surveys are distant news.

Narendra Modi is popular in the urban circles for he enters the voters' heart through their head. For the rural voters, the way to his heart is mainly through emotions and sensitive issues like food, land and simple dream to live a healthy life.

As Modi campaigns in urban centres, Rahul is preferring rural stopovers

Rahul Gandhi is striking the chord by raking up these issues. It is not without a reason that he is mainly campaigning in the rural centres unlike Modi who is mostly storming urban centres. For emotion, he has enough family anecdotes to fuel the imagination of the poor; for food he has the much talked-about food bill to stress and for land he has the land acquisition case to strengthen his point. And to counter the BJP, reminding the voters of what is called Bharat about its largely urban character and communal past is enough.

Rahul Gandhi has also been found about Dalit empowerment in UP, which is another indicator of his alternate plan to tackle Modi's march.

Class perception is key to understand what Rahul Gandhi says. The urban audience might find him funny and foolish and there are definitely questions about his amateurish style, but there is a method in what he is doing.

In Indore

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi at a public rally in Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.

In Indore

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi with party leaders Digvijay Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia at a public rally in Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.

In Rahatgarh

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi addresses a public rally in Rahatgarh near Sagar in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.

In Rahatgarh

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi with party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia at a public rally in Rahatgarh near Sagar in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.

In Rahatgarh

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi with party leaders Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kantilal Bhuria at a public rally in Rahatgarh near Sagar in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.

In Rahatgarh

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi being presented a mace at a rally in Rahatgarh near Sagar in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.

In Rahatgarh

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is garlanded at a public rally in Rahatgarh near Sagar in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.

In Indore

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi at a public rally in Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.