New Delhi: The BJP's persistent attack on Rahul Gandhi has led many in the party to believe it's part of a plan to turn the 2019 battle into one between the Congress chief and the "mighty" Narendra Modi, hoping the younger leader would be no match.
Some sections in the ruling party, however, say the strategy might backfire.
These leaders feel that the party, by attacking Rahul consistently, would build him up into an alternative after having earlier dismissed him as somebody of no consequence.
"We are deliberately trying to prop up Rahul against Modiji. The leadership feels a Modi-versus-Rahul battle in 2019 (when parliamentary elections are due) will be like a Goliath-versus-David fight," a senior leader explained, leaving unsaid the fate of the giant Biblical warrior.
The BJP's recent focus on not letting go any opportunity to target the new Congress president is in sharp contrast to how it had treated Rahul in the period immediately after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Party leaders would then choose not to give importance to Rahul, saying he didn't deserve to be taken seriously.
A note the party rushed to all MPs after a Supreme Court judgment earlier this week showed the BJP's change in attitude.
The court had on Thursday dismissed petitions seeking a probe into the death of special CBI judge B.H. Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case in which BJP chief Amit Shah was an accused. The bench ruled that Judge Loya died of "natural causes" and accused the petitioners of promoting "a political agenda" in the name of public interest.
The BJP note asked all MPs to attack Rahul. "Every MP should immediately give bite to local TV asking Rahul Gandhi to apologise for defaming Amit Shah in Justice Loya death case," the note said.
Even ministers went into overdrive. "Should Rahul Gandhi apologise after the Supreme Court ruling?" law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asked before coming up with the answer himself: "Yes, Rahul should apologise. The Congress stands exposed."
The leader who spoke about a "Goliath-versus-David fight" said it was perhaps also a strategy to play on the rivalry among Opposition parties in view of the wider anti-BJP unity building up in the run-up to 2019.
"Many regional party leaders would not accept Rahul Gandhi as a Prime Minister candidate," the leader said. "Do you think Mamata Banerjee will support Rahul as Prime Minister?"
BJP managers feel that the Congress too is wary of directly projecting Rahul as the party's prime ministerial face, fearing that it could spoil the larger Opposition unity. "Why are they (the Congress) shirking from doing so?" another leader asked.