Column argues Rahul Gandhi will keep BJP in power till 2049

An opinion column published after the 2019 Lok Sabha election argued that the BJP could rule India uninterrupted for the next 30 years, until 2049, mainly because Rahul Gandhi is likely to remain the face of the Congress.

The column’s argument

The writer opened with an anecdote framed as a job interview, then revealed it was based on a magazine interview in which Gandhi, asked about his favourite fruit, spoke about Vipassana meditation and the mind before answering. The column used the exchange to argue that Gandhi often fails to come across clearly.

It said the result was decisive: voters had not only returned Modi but also rejected Gandhi, with Modi gaining from turning the contest into a presidential-style race. Many had expected the Congress to at least double its seats while the BJP lost some. Instead, the column said, the Congress’s vote share edged up only from 19.3 percent to 19.5 percent and its seats from 44 to 52, it lost ground in the Hindi heartland, and Gandhi lost Amethi.

A long-term forecast

The writer argued that Gandhi, 48 and turning 49 this month, would lead the Congress for decades, noting that leaders such as Manmohan Singh and Vajpayee served into their 80s. It pointed to Gujarat, where the Congress has not won since 1995, as a model: even when voters were unhappy with the BJP, as in 2017, they did not see the Congress as an alternative.

The column speculated that Modi, 68, might serve until 2029 and then hand over to Amit Shah, 54, followed later by Yogi Adityanath. It compared the Congress to Britain’s Liberal Party, which declined after the First World War and merged into the Liberal Democrats in 1988, and said a real alternative to the BJP would emerge only if Gandhi stepped aside and the Congress merged with regional parties. The column stated that the views were the author’s own.

What happened next

Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress president in July 2019; Sonia Gandhi became interim president in August 2019, and Mallikarjun Kharge was elected president in October 2022. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the BJP won 240 seats and the Congress 99, and Narendra Modi began a third term.

See also: Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.

Originally published on 5 June 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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