Pointing out that democratic politics have fundamentally changed in recent years, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that the old tools of politics no longer work, and the challenge now is to construct a new kind of politician who can face the concentration of capital, modern media, and social media. He also took a dig at the BJP, saying the Opposition would never be able to compete with the ruling party when it comes to anger, fear, and hatred.

Addressing a session of the two-day-long Bharat Summit in Hyderabad, Gandhi spoke about the challenges faced by democratic politics. He said, “Democratic politics have fundamentally changed across the globe. The rules that would apply a decade ago simply don’t apply anymore. When I speak to young members of the party, I tell them that the tools which worked 10 years ago simply do not work now. They cannot face the concentration of capital, modern media, and modern social media. So, in a sense, the old politician is dead, and a new type of politician needs to be constructed.”

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He went on to share the struggles the Congress faced when it was unable to counter the BJP’s aggression. “Some years ago, we in the Congress party felt completely trapped and isolated. This new politics — aggressive politics — where the Opposition is not engaged with but rather crushed, compromised all our avenues: the media, the general atmosphere. It did not allow us to operate the way we would have liked. So, we reached back into our history and decided to walk from Kanyakumari, one of the southernmost parts of our country, to Kashmir, where I was yesterday,” Gandhi recalled.

He further pointed out that Congress cannot outmanoeuvre the BJP by using its tools of anger, fear, and hatred. “They are going to outdo us, outmanoeuvre us, and beat us every single time when it comes to fear, anger, and hatred. So, the question is: where and how do we operate? Where are the spaces where we have the advantage, the spaces from which we can build a counter-narrative?” Gandhi emphasized the importance of politicians listening and communicating effectively with the people, noting that leaders have largely failed in this regard.

The Telangana government organised the Bharat Summit to mark the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference of 1955, which laid the foundation of the Non-Aligned Movement. Although Gandhi was originally scheduled to address the conference yesterday, he visited Kashmir instead, following the terror attack in Pahalgam. The theme of the international summit was ‘Delivering Global Justice’, amplifying Rahul Gandhi’s message of Nyay.