THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- November 9, 2016- Topic 1
With Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, it
is difficult to say who needs the other more. Indeed, it is not clear whether
the party is shielding him from the risk of electoral failure or whether it is
looking to him for political leadership and guidance. In any case the seemingly
never-ending wait for his ascension as the president of the party was not doing
either him or the Congress any good. If the decision of the Congress Working
Committee to ask Mr. Gandhi to take up the top post was a surprise, it was only
in its timing. Ever since the Lok Sabha election of 2014, Mr. Gandhi was being
prepared for this very job; also, his mother and Congress president, Sonia
Gandhi, had not been keeping good health. But two factors stood in the way.
Members of the party’s old guard were unsure of his leadership skills, or were
apprehensive of being left out if the order changed. More important, Mr. Gandhi
himself wanted time. He wanted to make sure he did not appear to be hankering
after power and position, and he did not get blamed for electoral defeats that
were, by any reckoning, inevitable. But just as the seniors in the party
reconciled themselves to the changing times, Mr. Gandhi too seems to have
become more responsive to the requirements of an organisation such as the
Congress: that he would have to deal with the party as it is, and that he would
not be able to readily mould it to the form he would like it to take.
Quite possibly, Mr. Gandhi would not
have had a shot at becoming the party president were it not for his lineage. But
the nature of the faction-ridden Congress is such that it needs a leader whose
right to lead is not questioned at every step. Mr. Gandhi meets this
requirement. While the fractious nature of the party grants him greater
legitimacy as a leader, it also makes his task more difficult. At the CWC
meeting, he expressed his willingness to take on the assigned role of party
president to “fight for the preservation of the idea of India”. This is a
phrase that the Congress believes captures its engagement with the Bharatiya
Janata Party. The Congress does have its place in India’s political landscape,
but it cannot afford to define itself solely as the antithesis of the BJP. Mr.
Gandhi will have to take the plunge wholeheartedly, with a readiness to carry
on the struggle for political change and economic development over the long
term. He will have to be ready to get his hands dirty in the every- day
politics of bringing about positive change, incremental or otherwise, whenever
and wherever possible. There are no shortcuts. Taking blame and sharing credit
are synonymous with assuming responsibility.
Vocabulary
Indeed: used to emphasize a statement or response confirming something already
suggested.
Example: It was not expected to last long, and indeed it took less than three weeks
Synonyms: as expected, to be sure, in fact, in point of
fact, as a matter of fact
Shielding: protect (someone or something) from a danger, risk, or unpleasant
experience.
Example: He pulled the cap lower to shield his eyes from the glare
Ascension: the act of rising to an important position or a higher level.
Example: His ascension to the ranks of pop star
Apprehensive: anxious or fearful that something bad or unpleasant will happen.
Example: He felt apprehensive about going home
Synonyms: anxious, worried, uneasy, nervous, concerned, agitated, tense
Hankering: feel a strong desire for or to do something.
Example: His wife accused him of hankering after adultery
Synonyms: longing, yearning, craving, desire, wish, hunger, thirst, urge
Reckoning: the action or process of calculating or estimating something.
Example: Last year was not, by any reckoning, a particularly good one
Synonyms: calculation, estimation, count, computation, working
out
Inevitable: certain to happen; unavoidable.
Example: War was inevitable
Synonyms: unavoidable, inescapable, inexorable, ineluctable, assured
Lineage: lineal descent from an ancestor; ancestry or pedigree.
Example: He can also claim lineage to Thyagaraja's direct disciples through various
ancestors.
Synonyms: ancestry, family, parentage, birth, descent, line, extraction, derivation
Plunge: an act of jumping or diving into water.
Example: We went straight from the sauna to take a cold plunge
Synonyms: dive, jump, nosedive, fall, pitch, drop, plummet, descent