Personal attacks don’t work, whether it is on Gandhi or Modi

Bengaluru, Jan 28: As expected Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's formal entry into politics brought with it a barrage of personal attacks on her and her brother, Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

'Just a pretty face,' 'Rahul's crutch,' 'admission of Rahul's failure,' 'Naamdar,' (Dynast) being a few that followed her appointment as Congress' general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh East.

This by no means was coming only from the fringe elements of the BJP. Those making such comments included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, central ministers and even the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Sadly, such attacks are no new phenomena, nor are they restricted to those in power now. Both parties and their leadership have dabbled in them.

While this in itself might not be surprising, the fact that they continue to take place even when there's little evidence that they work makes it odd. Instead, most of it usually shows that it helps those at the receiving end.

It didn't work when Congress labelled Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat, 'Maut ka Saudagar' or accused him of doing 'Zeher ki kheti.' It didn't work during the latest Gujarat state election when the 'neech' (vile) jibe was thrown at him by Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar. In fact, many believe it helped Modi regain lost ground in his home state. Aiyar had also thrown a 'chai-wala' barb at him during the 2014 polls.

BJP's latest efforts also prove they haven't learnt from either such mistakes or those of their own like labelling Sonia Gandhi a 'Foreigner' before the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

The results after such attempts have shown that come voting day, such a strategy doesn't work with Indian voters.

Even when it comes to Rahul, not many, if any, political leader in India has been subjected to as much ridicule as him. Mostly by those in power, led by the prime minister. Followed by the online troll army

There is little doubt that this approach by BJP was effective in making it difficult to take him seriously, yet after five years of this, it has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for him. As even though he has displayed signs of improvement in decision-making and campaigning, the impact of these in recreating his image has been way beyond proportional.

So much so, that a few victories in state elections are now making many see him as a direct challenger to Modi. With a host of surveys before this year's general elections showing that he is set to lead his party to a much better performance than last time around.

Despite all of this, Priyanka's entry into politics has still been welcomed with the same hostility. Now time will tell if these bring a different outcome or just prove that some of our politicians never learn.