The Rajasthan crisis may have been stemmed for now but it did signal one thing — that while the cure for Covid-19 still remains an enigma, it is back to good, old politics. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot may have saved his government but not without a dash of resort politics, allegations of horse-trading, a spate of resignations that weren’t and finally a very public make up on the floor of the House with a vote of confidence. All very high drama and the stuff that politics are made of.
But while the crisis may not be resolved, this is not all — the Congress still has a larger crisis to resolve and most of it has to do with the fact that its Chosen Leader still hasn’t decided whether he should lead the party or appoint a Manmohan Singh of his own to be the proxy. What has added to this speculation is the publication of a book on Next Generation of Leaders where Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is quoted as stating that she would be okay with a non-Gandhi as her boss. “He has said that none of us should be the president of the party and I fully agree with him on this,” she says about Rahul, adding: “I think that the party should find its own path also.”
However, Congress sources point out while the book has been published only recently the conversation took place much earlier, some say around July 2019, which would place it even before Sonia Gandhi’s nomination as the interim chief in August 2019. A lot has happened since, including the fact that Rahul has once again come out of his shell and is attempting to put his own team in place. A logical next step would be to see him take over as the party chief, but since we are talking about Rahul, logic may not be the best means to figure him out. Having said this, the timing of the said interview is a bit problematic for it comes at a time when a Gandhi is already holding the reins and another is figuring out whether he should take charge or not.
If he goes with the latter, then names of a probable Manmohan Singh are already doing the rounds, ranging from K.C. Venugopal to Ashok Gehlot to Mukul Wasnik. Of the three the latter has the strongest chance for he has a strong grassroots background including a stint as the president of the youth congress and unlike Gehlot is not too closely identified with the Old Guard. Neither does he have a strong mass base. In fact Congress sources claim that the choice would be either between Rahul himself taking the plunge or else nominating Wasnik.
As this ambiguity continues, there is also speculation that Sachin Pilot would be brought to Delhi — most probably as a general secretary. While some say he could even replace Venugopal as the organisation in-charge, it remains to be seen as to whether his recent revolt would work against offering him a job that is essentially to keep the organisation together. But given the fact that Gehlot has already filled the state PCC chief slot, there is little room for Sachin in Rajasthan as long as his bete noir holds sway.
While the heat and media focus is on the Congress, let us not forget the BJP where the current party president is yet to put his new team together. There are also four vacancies in the party’s parliamentary board that need to be filled. We are also told that there is a cabinet reshuffle in the offing, though when that takes place is anybody’s guess. However, Devendra Fadnavis has recently been given charge of Bihar leading to speculation that he could fill in one of the vacancies in the parliamentary board.
So in the end, one can see the green shoots of political activity resuming post Covid.
