This was going to be a critique of the dismal performance of the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament last week. His intervention in the election reforms debate left me baffled. He meandered from khadi and kanjeevaram sarees to university vice-chancellors and the evils of the RSS to threatening the Election Commissioner. It was a depressing performance. But as I settled down to write this column, Rahul Gandhi popped up on a news channel, speaking in the Lok Sabha. This time, he raised the issue of air pollution in our cities.

He said that this was a subject on which there could be no disagreement between the government and the Opposition benches. Sounding reassuringly sensible, he suggested that the rules of this debate should be that there would be no accusations hurled at each other about who did what and when. They should concentrate on solving a problem that has become a national health emergency.

To tell you the truth, I nearly fell off my chair when I heard him finally raise an issue that will resonate with ordinary Indians. So far, he has lost elections not because of votes being stolen, but because he has raised mostly issues that have been pointed personal attacks on the Prime Minister. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, he accused Modi of taking bribes in the Rafale deal. Through that........

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