After a video showing Congress MP Rahul Gandhi partying at a nightclub in Nepal went viral, this sparked off a debate as to whether politicians should be seen frequenting nightclubs and taking time off. Of course, the bots and the trolls went after Rahul Gandhi since the timing of this coincided with the party’s failure to cement a revival plan with strategist Prashant Kishor (an exercise from which RaGa was noticeably absent). Rahul’s disinterest and frequent absence from politics is one thing but the very fact that he was being criticised for attending a friend’s wedding is another matter. In defence of the latter, a host of opposition MPs has been speaking up in favour of Rahul with Shiv Sena MP and a former Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi even writing an editorial to defend the right to private life. In a signed article titled ‘Why Can’t Politicians have Fun’, Chaturvedi writes, “Politicians are censured and reprimanded for stepping out of some imaginary Lakshman Rekha that draws the line on how they can dress, talk and eat in public. When I joined politics, I was advised by well-wishers to not share my personal life—details of my family and friends or holiday pictures on social media. I chose to disagree. I would be a hypocrite to hide an aspect of my life just to adhere to some expected standard of how society perceives its leaders. However, the few times that I have shared bits and pieces of my personal life, I have received repulsive comments on social media platforms,” she has a point. Add to this the fact that women get more targetted than men, except perhaps when the man in question is the former Congress President Rahul Gandhi who is a prime target for the right wing trolls.
One reason of course is that when compared to the 24X7 work schedule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who never takes a break and neither does he condone one. The grapevine is abuzz with stories of ministers having to rush back from the airport the minute the PM got a whiff of their holiday plans. Even working holidays or conferences abroad are frowned upon. Contrast this with another PM AB Vajpayee’s tenure who often took a summer’s break at his cottage in Manali and a winter’s break in Kerala’s Kumarakom. In fact, the New Year would begin with his musings from Kumarakom.
And while there can be a case against too much partying, taking an annual break should not become a character flaw. Neither should it be regarded as purely a western concept. For no one expects the politician to be a one-dimensional figure whose only focus is work. There has to be time off and some other hobbies or interests that work as stress busters. LK Advani loved to watch movies for instance and often invited the media for a first day, first show. Mamata Bannerjee likes to paint, Digvijaya Singh was into wildlife photography and so on. We don’t quite know what Modi does on his time off, apart from some yoga. But we are certainly caught between one politician who takes too many breaks and another who does not take a break at all!