If Rahul Gandhi does not take on the mantle of Congress president this time too, then it will be too late. The party is learnt to be fully prepared to hand over the party’s responsibility to the Gandhi scion.
As per the party’s strategy, the delegates from all the Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) are supposed to send a one line resolution to interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, accepting Rahul as party president. The PCC delegates elect the Congress president. Such resolutions from several states have already reached the AICC headquarters. The remaining PCCs have been asked to rush their documents.
In fact, there is no obstacle for Rahul Gandhi’s appointment as party chief. Only Rahul has to decide on the same. The grand old party had announced the schedule just for the “formality of election”. According to the programme, the process for election should have been in motion on Sunday itself. But there was hardly any activity like that at the party headquarters. The Central Election Authority (CEA) also looks to be inactive as of now. The front door of AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal’s office remains locked. He said to be meeting only a few select leaders from the rear gate. He is in charge of organizational matters. J.D. Seelam, Kazi Mohammad Nizamuddin and Chela V.C. Reddy have been attached to Venugopal’s office as secretaries. But only Reddy is the real advisor to Venugopal. However, the crowd of workers that used to be seen at his office earlier is now missing. Such a lackluster approach is being seen at a time when the party is struggling to survive. Hailing from Kerala, Venugopal does not have command over Hindi, while most of the workers come to his office from Hindi belts. So, he is unable to meet many of them for that reason as well. What Congress cannot remain oblivious to is that there is a strong NDA government led by PM Narendra Modi. Moreover, regional parties are also posing a challenge to it in various states. But the high command seems to be unable to do anything substantial.
While organizational elections are underway, the party could choose a face to take over UP president post. Haryana is without a structured organisation. Organisational posts are lying vacant in Rajasthan. All this is attributed to the non-serious approach of Rahul Gandhi himself. If he had accepted some role in the UPA government, the situation would have been different. He had a chance to become even the prime minister, but he did not accept that opportunity either. As a result, the Congress is getting weaker. In the past few weeks, there were efforts to revive the party on price rise and unemployment issues. But the protest could not gather momentum. There was a lack of crowd in the Congress’ protests. So, the party could not mount pressure on the central government. The protest was just an attempt to recharge the workers. Now, Congress will stage a Hall Bol against price rise at Ramlila Maidan on 4 September. However, all eyes will be on how much crowd the party manages to pull for this rally which will be led by Rahul. This will be a big Congress rally for the first time since the 2019 debacle. The crowd puller leaders like Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler are already out of scene. Former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda remains to be the only leader who is said to be a crowd-puller. In the past, huge crowds of workers used to come from Delhi and Haryana. But this time, Rajasthan is going to play a big role, as the state has a Congress government. The party is no doubt struggling to ensure that the rally attracts a big crowd.
After this, Bharat Jodo Yatra will commence from 7 September under Rahul’s leadership. This Yatra will last for five months and will connect several states. The Congress will assess its strength and support base during this yatra. But the bigger question is whether Rahul will continue to lead the party without taking on the mantle of president. Congress leaders and workers are said to be unhappy over the ambiguity about the president post due to Rahul’s reluctance. What is also being debated is that the Gandhis may give the top post to a non-Gandhi person. Names of Ashok Gehlot, Mallikarjuna Kharge, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Mukul Wasnik and Ambika Soni are doing the rounds. Gehlot has, however, clarified that he is not going to be the Congress president, and Rahul should take over the role of party chief.
The Gandhi family has to take a call on the party president. There are questions whether Sonia Gandhi will approve any decision in favour of a non-Gandhi leader. She did not have any pleasant experience after giving the party president post to P.V. Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesri. The second secure option, possibility of which is also there, is that Sonia Gandhi will continue as interim party chief till 2024 and Rahul will continue to work as he is doing. Indications are also that Congress presidential elections may be deferred again, given total confusion prevailing in the party in terms of top post. There is a huge ambiguity and uncertainty over the election of president. However, appointing party chief is Congress’ internal matter. If the Gandhi family goes ahead with its lackadaisical approach, then the party will suffer immensely. This is, therefore, the right time when Rahul should show courage and take on the mantle of the party president.
