Politics of Being Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
Is Priyanka Gandhi Vadra unhappy with the Congress organisational reshuffle? She was missing from Nagpur when the Congress Working Committee met there. She was also missing from the first meeting of the Manifesto Committee as well as from the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra launch. If you recall in the recent reshuffle she was appointed general secretary without a portfolio. She is also the only general secretary without a specific charge and this must rankle. Given the fact that she has of late emerged as one of the party’s star campaigners, given the fact that it is Priyanka who tops the list of speakers in demand by candidates at various rallies, given the fact that it was under her charge that the Congress won Himachal Pradesh, one wonders why she is being sidelined. Especially when you take her political induction into account, for the day she became politically active she was given the uneasy charge Uttar Pradesh. There were no soft landings for her as in-charge of the frontal organisations, as is what happened with Rajiv, Sanjay and even Rahul Gandhi. All of which makes you wonder who is taking the key decisions in Congress these days: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge or the all-powerful organisational secretary, K.C. Venugopal?
Congress needs an Ayodhya Doctrine
The Congress decision not to attend the Ram Mandir opening ceremony at Ayodhya on 22 January was not a unanimous one, for there are some naysayers. There are some like veteran leader Dr Karan Singh who has pointed out the building of the temple was as per the Supreme Court’s decision, hence the Congress should have attended the ceremony. However, Rahul Gandhi was adamant that the Congress cannot be seen on the sidelines of what is clearly a BJP-RSS event. Other opposition leaders seem to concur. In fact, a joint Opposition delegation to Ayodhya by the I.N.D.I.A bloc is being debated. The fact that the four Shankaracharyas are not attending has given some heft to the Congress stand.
But having said this, what the Congress needs is a larger, comprehensive and consistent Ayodhya doctrine in place. It cannot take the credit for shilanyas in one election and distance itself from the opening of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in the other. Its stand on the Babri Masjid demolition remains more or less consistent—that it was all Narasimha Rao’s fault—but it is not the minority vote that it has to target. That vote is with the Congress, or well, with the opposition. It is the Hindu sentiment that the Congress needs to assuage. Dividing the Hindu vote by playing the politics of caste is one way, the old Mandal vs Kamandal narrative. But the party also needs to address the Hindu community in its entirety by coming up with a consistent stand on the Ayodhya Temple. Dr Karan Singh has a valid point, the Supreme Court’s decision can be the guiding light on this one. At the end of the day, whatever psephologists say, elections may be won on governance, but they are fought on religion. It is emotion that sways the voter and makes that last mile connectivity, which is why Prime Minister Modi’s last minute rally blitzkrieg makes the kind of impact it does.