When talking about politics, Wayanad UDF candidate Priyanka Gandhi can bore listeners to death. But when you set out to touch hearts, the effect can be almost magical. Priyanka’s speeches in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency are a mix of dull politics and wonderful emotional connect. What Priyanka’s speaking demonstrates is the instinct of a short story editor. The smartest of these editors keep powerful stories on the first pages and equally good or even better ones toward the end. The mediocre ones are distributed in the middle.

The idea is to draw readers into the initial stories, build enough anticipation in them to devour even the middling stuff, and then, just when persisting any further seems futile, add a couple of brilliant stories that will leave them thinking they’ve read a great collection. Priyanka does precisely this. And this strategy of theirs was demonstrated in Pookkottumpadom, a small town in Nilambur, Malappuram, on Wednesday.

This was also his last speech of the day. He had two big baits for voters that were delivered at the beginning and end of his speech. In the first bait, he explained his brother’s decision to choose Raebareli over Wayanad. In the second, she told Wayanad voters, especially women, what they meant to her, and in a way no one would have told them before. She reserved her most poignant political skills to convey these two messages. In between, like mediocre offerings in a great collection of short stories, Priyanka presented her political points. And these were bland, boring and without nuance. Mostly clichés: “Asking questions is the right of the people” was one of them. (This was ironic since the security team surrounding her made it impossible for any ordinary voter to ask her a question.) Here’s another one: “In a democracy, what is paramount is the power of the people.” Another: “What we need most is progress.”

Self-destructive rhetoric
Sometimes his comments were counterproductive. They seemed like a rebuke to his own party. “Look at the immense potential of this land,” he said of Wayanad. “This could be a tourist center equal to any other in the world,” he said. The fact is, ever since Wayanad Lok Sabha was formed (in 2009), his party was the only one to win the seat. His lament over the fall in prices of agricultural products also sounded self-recriminating. “The quality of their crops is incomparable. However, rubber farmers are crying. They simply do not receive enough support from the government,” he said. It is no secret that rubber prices started falling after the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government signed the ASEAN-India free trade agreement. However, thanks to the two election baits that Priyanka placed at the beginning and end of her campaign speeches, her hypocrisy would have easily gone unnoticed.

Always grateful
It started with his brother. Priyanka did not give any excuse for Rahul Gandhi’s decision to vacate the Wayanad seat. Any explanation would have left Wayanad voters disappointed, even feeling betrayed. And before anyone could call her brother ungrateful, Priyanka disarmed her voters by collectively describing them as her brother’s savior. Bringing many women gathered to tears, she said she and her family were deeply indebted to Wayanad. “My brother’s career in politics has been full of difficulties,” Priyanka said. “The BJP leaders spread lies against him in the media and on social media. And many people believed these lies. Many people turned their backs on him. Some of his closest colleagues abandoned him. And it was at this moment, the most difficult period of his life, who turned to you for support and encouragement,” he said. Priyanka credited the voters of Wayanad for all her brother’s achievements. “I am honored to be here in front of you because you were the one who immediately recognized this man. No matter what lies were told about him, only you realized that this man is being attacked because he stands up for what is right. You are “You who gave him the courage to continue fighting. It was because of you that he was able to walk more than 4,000 kilometers from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in the name of unity, in the name of peace and in the name of India,” he said. There was great applause, but many cried.

indian mother
And before finishing, it made them even more excited. Nearly 80 percent of the people who had gathered at Pookkottumpadom were women and mothers. By then it was 4 in the afternoon. She sent them a knowing smile. “I’m told that many of you have been sitting here since one in the afternoon. Deep down you must be worried about your children,” he said. He also called his son and daughter and asked them what they were doing, he said. There were smiles everywhere. “The moment you become a mother, you begin to understand what sacrifice is, what duty is and what responsibility is,” she said. There were nods of assent from the women gathered. “And what do you ask of your children in return? You don’t ask for castles or positions or to become this or that. You only ask that they love you,” she said. Again there were nods, this time vigorous. “And when the little boy comes running and hugs you and hugs you, you know you have everything in the world and you don’t need anything else,” he said. Some of the women had begun to sob. And then, Priyanka became the mother who wanted nothing but hugs. “This is how I feel about you. You are my duty, you are my responsibility. I want nothing from you except your love and affection.” Saying this, he stepped down from the podium and, with a tempting smile, ran towards the crowd. And the women, like an exuberant wave, swirled around her and submerged her.