Indeed curious is the wisdom that Rahul Gandhi spouts before an audience abroad. At home he confines himself to mundane politicking. Is it because before a foreign jaunt he gets his captive think-tank to identify what could sell, and then has speech-writers prepare him to cut an impressive figure, in contrast to his insipid presentations on the domestic circuit?

If so, it points to a craving for foreign acceptance, the bane of so many politicians of yesteryear. Contrast his recent addresses in Germany and the UK with what ought to merit the top priority of a politician ~ participation in parliamentary debate.

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In the Lok Sabha he limits himself to silly one-liners, and when those have lost their sting through repetition, he tries to corner a little glory by a hypocritical gesture betrayed by ending it with a smug wink.

Yet abroad he has pontificated about what gave birth to ISIS, warned of similar disaffection gaining ground in India and likened the RSS with the Muslim Brotherhood of Egyptian infamy.

If Rahul thinks that a London gathering would be alive to the Muslim Brotherhood, was he really sure of British intellectuals knowing much more about the RSS, beyond its right-wing Hindu roots?

No need to echo the BJP’s objections ~ that it left it to nobody of greater significance than Sambit Patra to articulate them tells its own story ~ the question that arises is why Rahul is so desperate to make a mark abroad when the Indian people keep taking him to electoral task?

Maybe the Congress president has partially answered that query himself. His blaming the party’s 2014 rout on arrogance is equally true of his bid to seek foreign recognition ~ a contempt for domestic political thought.

His charge of arrogance also extends to his mother, Dr Manmohan Singh etc. And would, or should, include himself. He has usurped the leadership of the party without a valid track record ~ neither administrative efficiency nor electoral success to support his dubious claim to fame.

No wonder the dynasty charge strikes a chord more powerful among the people than his admission of arrogance. And was it not arrogance that caused him to gatecrash a meeting at the Press Club of India and tear up a copy of an ordinance issued by the UPA: as cheap a stunt as his attempted pontification on international issues in European capitals.

The “kid” just refuses to mature, create public confidence of being able to successfully steer his party through the electoral minefield ahead. Yet Rahul is not to be personally blamed for the Congress’s drift ~ several potentially-capable political figures have acquiesced to the family aura, confirmed their impotence when facing a member of the Nehru-Gandhi clan. And impotence and incompetence of others are what led ISIS and the Muslim Brothehood to assume their menacing proportions.