The Times Of India - Rahul Gandhi's Media Manager?

The Times of India seems to be going all out for Rahul Gandhi as our next prime minister. Rahul Gandhi is the next best thing, says the front page of its Mumbai edition (His time starts now, 30 Jan 2006).On the inside, an entire page is dedicated to his greatness, with a story by the name of Waiting for Rahul, where the new heir of the dynasty is shown to be the solution of all problems of the Congress in the Hindi heartland, with a poll taken to support it.

Let us take a look at the poll, and one can understand how the questions of the polls were worded in such a fashion so as to favour Rahul. The questions were: Who is a better vote getter for Congress? Will Rahul be more effective than his mother? Should he assume a greater responsibility in Congress? Can he revive the Congress in UP & Bihar?

As the comparison is all within the Congress, there is no way that the respondents could have responded in any other way. It is well known that the concept of a second rung leadership is virtually absent in Congress. So whenever it is in crisis, the party returns to the Nehru-Gandhi family. As "Madam's" magic didn't work in the Bihar elections, the Congress seems to be struggling for a leader in the Hindi heartland.

It is a shame to see a newspaper waste print space over a poll which was significant only for strategic decisions for the Congress. Such reports do not warrant a place in any nationally significant newspaper, unless they specifically mention "Advertisement" on the report.