Has the Congress learnt any lessons from Bihar? The Bihar elections have brought the focus back on the leadership crunch in the Congress. But has the grand old party learnt any lesson from the Bihar debacle—or the events that predated it such as the G23 revolt? Are there any postscripts to the letter written by a group of Congress leaders to their leadership?
Arati R. Jerath, columnist and political analyst, thinks not. She points out, “What I find most significant in the current churning is that P. Chidambaram has joined the rank of critics. In the last round he had desisted from signing on the letter. You know how close he is to the family (the Gandhis). The very fact that even he is speaking out shows the depth of disgruntlement that the party is going nowhere. The party is facing election debacle after debacle and there is no attempt at introspection.” She adds, “There are two big problems in front of the Congress: Organisationally, it is decaying. That was clear from not just Bihar but the fact that it was unable to do well in the by-elections as well. Second, it doesn’t seem to have an idea that can capture the imagination of the young voter like Tejashwi Yadav’s 10 lakh jobs. It also lacks a leader. Nominally Sonia Gandhi is there; and when elections come around, Rahul Gandhi pops up. He addresses rallies and tweets a lot but is doing little organisationally to create a force to fight the BJP.”
It is interesting to see Chidambaram speak up for there was speculation that he was part of the G23 and even helped in drafting the letter but when the letter was delivered his signature was missing. This has kept the confusion alive for his closeness to the Gandhis is well known. And so, soon after Chidambaram’s interview to a Hindi daily where he commented that the recent bypoll results in Gujarat, MP, UP and Karnataka were a worry as they indicated a weak or negligible organisational presence, I spoke to one of the G23 rebels. When I commented that even Chidambaram is now out of the closet, I was told: “No one needs to come out any more as the queerness is there for all to see!”
As the saying goes, there are none so blind as those who will not see. That really is the crunch of the problem. How many more voices need to “come out” before the leadership does something. Rasheed Kidwai, author of 24 Akbar Road, however differs. He says, “Everyone is happy to be unhappy but no one has any solutions. Answer one very basic question: Why isn’t anyone coming forward to challenge Rahul or Sonia for the post of the president? Article 18 of the Congress constitution makes it clear that 10 PCC delegates can nominate anyone to fight the Congress president election. But no one has come forward?” He adds, “Some Congress leaders say that Chidambaram is speaking now because Tamil Nadu elections are near and he is worried DMK wants to sideline him.”
Rasheed is right in that the G23 lacks a face to project against the Gandhis. Sachin Pilot could have emerged a challenger but he did not time his revolt with the letter writers. By the time they delivered their letter, Pilot’s revolt had already been contained. Agrees Radhika Ramaseshan, columnist, “The G23, to me, seems a very tired lot without any very vibrant organisational hands. I don’t see anyone inspirational from here. Of course Chidambaram has raised his voice, but I don’t think he has the potential to be a pan-Indian leader. First and foremost, he has to defend his turf in Tamil Nadu. Leadership is a problem in the Congress and I think Congress leaders spend most of their time trying to second guess the Gandhis: What will please them, what are they thinking. So it is incumbent on the Gandhis to decide whether they are going to lead the party, or be a power behind the throne. It is going to be a shaky throne in any case if the incumbent is going to be in thrall of the Gandhis.”
If the leadership has to be in the hands of the Gandhis, then why not Priyanka instead of Rahul?
Radhika is somewhat sceptical of her chances. She explains, “Look at Priyanka. She was active in UP but it didn’t show in the bypolls. When she was going to Hathras, someone in the SP told me that she is going to sow the seeds but we will reap the harvest. There is no organisation on the ground even if there is goodwill for the Congress on the ground.”
Are the Gandhis an easy punching bag? Is the criticism unfair? Nirmal Pathak, editor at PTI Bhasha, says, “It’s not the first time the Congress is facing such a crisis, whether it was post-Emergency or in 1989 when Rajiv Gandhi lost the election or in 1996 when Sonia was brought in. The difference between the earlier cases and now is that the current leadership is not inspiring. But what are the options. There is no leader apart from the Gandhis, whether in G23 or outside. Why did Rahul take off in the middle of an election for a holiday to Shimla? In fact I was told that on the day of the results Rahul had planned a desert safari in Rajasthan.” It is this Rahul’s shoot and scoot brand of leadership that makes his credentials as a consistent politician suspect.
Nirmal adds, “There is a difference between Sibal’s statement and Chidambaram’s in that the latter will not go beyond a point whereas Sibal doesn’t seem to be too bothered if he is in the Congress or not so speaks more openly. The big question really is if not Rahul, then whom?”
According to Arati the G23 revolt was never about Rahul’s ouster. She says, “I don’t think any of the G23 are challenging the Gandhis to be leaders themselves. I think what they are trying to do is to send a message to the Gandhis that there is a crisis, do something.”
Rasheed counters. “I have a list of star campaigners in Bihar, only Sachin Pilot went. Kapil Sibal was Rajay Sabha MP but did he go there. Did Ghulam Nabhi Azad go to Seemanachal,” he says. If the G23 did not make it to the campaign field, neither did any of the pro-establishment folk. For instance, while Sachin Pilot campaigned, Ashok Gehlot was missing. Don’t forget the first lesson of leadership: Someone has to show up!