An emergency meeting of the Congress Working Committee was held on February 26 to discuss the Delhi riots; Rahul Gandhi was conspicuous by his absence. He was abroad. Rahul has reportedly been skipping CWC meetings after stepping down as Congress president in August last year.
Rahul’s absence from the scene when the Narendra Modi government came under attack for its failure to control the Delhi riots has only accentuated the ongoing leadership debate in the Congress. Several party leaders have displayed unease and impatience about the leadership issue dragging on. The failure of the Congress to win even a single seat in the Delhi assembly elections for the second consecutive time seems to have triggered an outburst of views within the party.
It all began with Sharmistha Mukherjee, daughter of former president Pranab Mukherjee, taking on veteran leader P. Chidambaram for praising the Aam Aadmi Party for its poll victory. She took to Twitter asking Chidambaram whether the Congress had outsourced its fight against the BJP. In yet another intra party skirmish, former Delhi unit chief of the Congress Ajay Maken criticised former Mumbai Congress president Milind Deora for praising the AAP regime’s handling of Delhi’s finances.
The leadership crisis was blamed for the party’s demoralising defeat in Delhi. Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s son, Sandeep Dikshit, ruffled feathers further by saying that if Rahul was reluctant to lead, there were six to eight senior leaders capable of holding the Congress president’s post. Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor said that Dikshit had publicly voiced what was being spoken of privately by dozens of party leaders. Tharoor asked the CWC to hold leadership elections “to energise workers and inspire voters”. Other leaders like Jairam Ramesh, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Manish Tewari also called for similar action.
Last December, Rahul gave indications that he was on a comeback trail, as he led protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Indian Citizens and also spoke about economic distress and unemployment. But soon there was buzz that Rahul was not yet ready and that he wanted the party to look beyond the family. There is now speculation that the Congress might hold a plenary session in April where a decision on a full-time party chief could be taken. But it is unclear whether Sonia would be made president or Rahul would make a comeback.
A large section in the Congress feels that Rahul should take the helm. “Rahul Gandhi is our general. He is loved by the rank and file of the party,” said former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat. “Rahul ji’s campaign against the BJP and the RSS is showing results and the people are waking up to reality.”
But there are others who talk about the need to look beyond the Gandhis. Singhvi said it was high time the party acted on the leadership issue. “If Rahul insists on not becoming president, we need to have a consensual leader or a group of three consensual leaders,” he said.
However, the efficacy of having a non-Gandhi president is in doubt, especially when the Congress is out of power at the Centre. “This talk about making a non-Gandhi party president is rubbish,” said senior leader Anil Shastri. “The Congress will cease to exist if there is a president who does not belong to the family.”
Shastri also voiced a sentiment expressed by several leaders that Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was the best bet at the moment. “She is dynamic and is familiar with the workings at the organisational level. She has shown a high level of engagement with party affairs in Uttar Pradesh. Politics is a 24x7 job, and it is even more challenging when you are in the opposition, and she is suited for it,” said Shastri.
The leadership woes of the Congress could worsen with the hectic lobbying in the party for the coming round of Rajya Sabha polls. This has to be seen against the backdrop of the tussle between the young leaders and the old guard as many of the hopefuls are members of Team Rahul. Jyotiraditya Scindia is hoping for a slot from Madhya Pradesh, while leaders such as Deora and Rajiv Satav are in the fray in Maharashtra. Also vying for a place in the upper house are Rahul confidants Randeep Surjewala, Jitin Prasada, R.P.N. Singh, Shaktisinh Gohil and Deepender Hooda. The proposal to nominate Priyanka to the upper house, mooted by the seniors, is said to be aimed at complicating matters for young leaders.
With the Congress in disarray, the gains made by Rahul post his Berkeley outing in September 2017, where he appeared as a credible challenger to Modi, seem to have been frittered away. “Rahul had emerged as a fighter and had the right narrative in place. But now, his credibility is in question. A comeback would require tremendous amount of confidence, but the leadership is going through a crisis of confidence,” said a Congress leader.
The Rahul camp said the critics needed to look within. It is also being pointed out that none of them have made any formal representation to the Congress president or made any moves as per the constitution of the party for convening an All India Congress Committee session to discuss the issues. “All of us need to see how many votes we secured when we contested and introspect on why we lost,” said Surjewala. “Instead of imparting knowledge to the whole country, they (the critics) need to focus on their respective areas and show tangible results.”