Earlier today, when not even 24 hours had passed since the Bharat Jodo Yatra of Rahul Gandhi concluded, news agency PTI (Press Trust of India) talked to ‘experts’ and declared that Rahul Gandhi’s ‘pappufication’ might be over, as his beard symbolises image makeover.
PTI, which is a news agency jointly funded and managed by various mainstream media houses of India, talked to various marketing experts who opined that Rahul Gandhi has finally ‘come of age’ and had become a political heavyweight with serious demeanour.
It should be noted that Rahul Gandhi has been coming of age ever since 2009, but if experts who talked to PTI are to be believed, that process is now complete with Bharat Jodo Yatra – a political exercise where Rahul Gandhi travelled over a thousand kilometres, allegedly to bring unity in the nation, and allegedly on foot.
The journey of Rahul Gandhi had started from Kanyakumari on 7th September 2022 and concluded in Kashmir on 30th January 2023. Many people wondered what was achieved after this yatra, but PTI talked to experts who could point out the biggest achievement – Rahul Gandhi’s beard.
“The beard has given him a certain degree of seriousness. He has arrived as a man, he is no longer Indira Gandhi’s grandson, Rajiv Gandhi’s son. He is now Rahul Gandhi, the man,” one of the experts quoted by PTI argued.
Perhaps the above quote also puts in perspective the claim when Rahul Gandhi, during his last leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, had claimed that he had killed Rahul Gandhi. Possibly, Rahul Gandhi, now the man as per PTI expert, had killed the Rahul Gandhi, who was just Indira Gandhi’s grandson.
PTI talked to various experts, all of whom appeared to agree that the beard of Rahul Gandhi was the biggest outcome of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is all set to change the political landscape of India. Experts also analysed what messages the free-flowing big beard of Rahul Gandhi was sending out.
“As a symbol it stands for the new wisdom of age, the hard labour of the prince,” said one of the experts, while the other explained that by sporting ‘a little unkempt and imperfect looking’ beard, Rahul Gandhi was sending a message that he had ‘more important things to focus on’ than grooming his beard.
The PTI report, in line with its serious analysis, further asserted that the key question before Rahul Gandhi now would be to-shave-or-not-to-shave now that the yatra has ended. “I believe this beard is here to stay,” said one of the experts PTI talked to.
The serious political analysis and commentary by the PTI had been re-published by The Hindu, ThePrint, Asianet, The Economic Times, and many other websites by the time of publishing of this report by OpIndia. The same could be expected to be printed in various newspapers tomorrow to help ordinary people understand the importance of Bharat Jodo Yatra.