In the throes of a leadership crisis and the never-ending question about whether its former president Rahul Gandhi is ready to make a comeback at the helm of affairs, the Congress is nowadays abuzz with speculation that he has finally shed his reluctance and will return as party chief.
The speculation has gathered momentum even as the schedule for the internal elections to appoint a full-time party president is expected to be announced later this month.
Rahul had resigned from the post shortly after the Congress's drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. A few months later, Sonia took over as interim president. As she completed one year in the post, there was speculation on whether Rahul would return as party chief. However, he has time and again, when asked the question about his willingness to occupy the top post in the party, referred to the letter he had written announcing his decision to step down, in which he had called for accountability to be fixed at all levels. His reference to the letter has been seen as an indication that the terms and conditions on which he will return to the helm of affairs have not been met yet.
However, over the last few months, the Gandhis have had to deal with a growing restiveness in the party with regard to the uncertainty associated with the leadership issue. The letter written to Sonia by the 23 'dissenting' leaders, who demanded an overhaul of the organisation and stressed on the need for a full-time, visible and effective leadership was widely perceived as the first real challenge to the Gandhis' hold over the party. It was also seen as an expression of dissatisfaction with the manner in which the leadership issue was dragging on and Rahul continued to have a role in the important decisions in the party without holding any post.
The letter was seen as setting an outer limit for Rahul to make up his mind on the leadership issue—either he returns to take over the reins of the party or he allows someone else to be appointed as a full-time president.
In this scenario, Sonia had last month tried to bridge the gap between Rahul and the dissenters with an in-person meeting with some of the prominent members of the 'G-23' or the group of 23 leaders who had sent the letter to her.
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Even as the five-member central election authority, reconstituted by Sonia in September 2020, carried on with its task of fine-tuning the schedule and the modalities for internal elections, there was no certainty on whether Rahul was ready to return as party president, and this uncertainty is believed to have delayed the announcement of the election schedule. Rahul's trip abroad was described by some in the party as an indication that he was not ready to be party president at this juncture. Rahul had on December 27, a day before the 136th Foundation Day of the Congress, left for Italy to meet his ailing grandmother. The leaders who turned up at the foundation day function at the party headquarters were surprised to not see Rahul there.
However, the buzz that Rahul has finally relented is gathering momentum. The growing restiveness in the party and the letter of dissent had already set the ball rolling for his imminent return. And then, the buzz about NCP supremo Sharad Pawar replacing Sonia as UPA chairperson appears to have played a role in the Wayanad MP's rethink on the leadership issue.
It remains to be seen if the buzz is just a passing phase in the ongoing 'will he, won't he' saga, or if Rahul is actually ready to clinch the leadership issue.
