Thread by @Iyervval

Thread
1n I think more than Rahul Gandhi - it is Ram Guhas & Kaushik Basus who’ve reduced the congress & the “Idea of India” to zero. They come from privilege & are extremely articulate but are broken records & their writings subject to the law of Diminishing returns.

2n of course the much vaunted left ecosystem is its own enemy. Once they identify you as a “fellow traveller” they go out of their way to promote every mediocrity (unlike the right which won’t promote even its smartest). This is great for individuals - it offers rapid social

3n social mobility. The problem is it also creates a closed echo chamber where no dissenting thought is allowed. Consequently any new views from the ground up never reach the top & the top becomes more and more elite and disconnected from reality. This also incentivises the

4n wannabe social climbers to avoid telling the aspirational left elites the hard cold ground reality & the need to “fit in” reduces the connect the yuppies have to the ground. Of course these elites will capture international narratives easily - but the more they capture the

5n international narrative the more they lose the domestic one. This delusion gets so bad that they get into isomorphic mimicry (imposing western fantasies on incompatible Indian ground realities). In short while Ram Guha and Kaushik may hate Rahul and want him to leave, their

6n salience and high profile comes only because of the exact same clueless folks that think Rahul is the saviour. Some may not think Rahul is the saviour, but they identify 100% with Rahul’s “idea of India”. In short - while they may reject Rahul, they completely accept what

7n Rahul says and believes. Rahul’s gaffes mean he’s easy to isolate as the malaise, while Ram & Kaushik’s verbosity means their toxicity to the oppositions chances in india are ignored. As a very wise man once said “intellect is not wisdom”. So Ram & Kaushik are definitely

8n a lot more intellectual than Rahul, but they’re just as wise as him. In short - even if Rahul Gandhi & his family leave india for good - the. Opposition will still be in the dumps as long as Ram & Kaushik remain their flag bearers. Needless to say neither Ram nor Kaushik

9n will follow the advice they have Rahul Gandhi “pack up with your family and leave”. And that is why the “intellectual left” remains a carbon copy of Rahul Gandhi - just in a different body - happy to dole out advice to others, but refuse to sacrifice themselves or acknowledge

10n the harm their continuing presence does to the Opposition in India. Essentially - the Gandhis may go, but as long as the Guhas and Basus stay on, Modi will remain the prime minister of India.