An open letter to Rahul Gandhi: One good speech alone can’t earn public’s trust!

Dear Rahul Gandhi,
After an absence of 56-days, you made a comeback in politics. Your critics always ask you to leave politics and switch to some other profession. But your return from you sabbatical, that has looked promising forced them to think again. Your comeback is a strong message to people that you are not going to quit easily. When everyone was expecting you to lead the Congress’ fight against the Narendra Modi-government in the Parliament, you disappeared, leaving the party in an embarrassing state. But now, you are back and your body language indicates that you are all set to take charge.
You started well when you attacked the Modi-government on the brewing farmers’ issue in the Parliament. Your presence made a positive impact on Congress MPs, who are enthusiastic to see you as their leader. Your speech in the Parliament was straight and to the point. Is one meaningful speech enough to prove that your party a worthy enough opposition? Nope. Your recent speech was the third speech of your 11-year parliamentary career. If you really want to trap the government, you need to be more active in the Lok Sabha. You need to prove yourself as a formidable opponent.
One could identify the new-found aggression in your speech and body language but you need to continue this. A single speech and yet another long disappearing act aren’t going to help you appease the public. Moreover, you must reach out to the masses and learn from your rivals. Narendra Modi leaves no stone unturned to connect with people. The reason behind the success of Arvind Kejriwal is his ‘aam aadmi’ rhetoric, that connects him to people. You need to break the barriers and get to ground reality. You must share your opinion on various issues and rebrand yourself. You must showcase yourself as a 24 x 7 politician. This will help you to become a mass leader as well as to suppress the question marks posed against you within party. In short, you should first prove yourself as a leader by choice and not by force.
Your absence from social media is not working in your favour either. You must initiate a direct communication with people through social media. You and Congress should learn from Aam Aadmi Party, that diligently used social media in the lead up to the Delhi elections. If you are ready to lead the Congress from front, it’s time to revamp the party too. It’s about time that you hand young leaders like Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia to become the voice of Congress and not delegate that responsibility to Digvijay Singh or Mani Shankar Aiyar. Give chances to young bloods and create strategies with them. The biggest problem with you is your “reluctance” or “inability” to communicate with your own party-men. This has been a perennial allegation and you need to clear this up. Congress workers across the country have been licking their wounds after facing massive defeats in back-to-back elections and you have failed to provide any relief by staying mum. You need to reach out to them and re-energize them for the upcoming elections. You must come up with a blueprint of the party’s future plan.
You still have to learn lots of things. You need to be consistent and accessible. You must have an idea and a vision that is fresh. Only then can you survive in the ruthless and fickle nature of the current political scenario. The need of the hour is that you must become the people’s voice. This goal can be achieved only when you will reach out to people and constantly remain in the public eye.

All the best!
Yours truly,
A common man