A new congress Troika?
With Kanhaiya Kumar tipped to join the Congress, the party is clearly banking on the firebrand leader as its face for Bihar (and the youth vote beyond) to counter both the veteran Nitish Kumar as well as the youthful Tejaswi Yadav. Kanhaiya’s recent meeting with Rahul Gandhi sparked off this speculation, but the buzz within the Congress is that Kanhaiya’s entry into the Congress is being blocked by none other than CPM leader Sitaram Yechury, who is said to have considerable clout with the Gandhis. But on this occasion, it seems as if Rahul will overrule his mentor and go ahead with the induction. With Prashant Kishor also set to join the party, the buzz (though apprehension is a better word) within the Congress is that Kishor, Kanhaiya and Hardik Patel (Gujarat Congress Working President) will be the new Amar-Akbar-Antony of the Congress. This was the name by which the all-powerful troika of Ghulam Nabi Azad-Ahmed Patel and A.K. Antony were known. Although the Kishor-Kumar-Patel don’t exactly make the same matrix, given Rahul Gandhi’s penchant for being enamoured by outsiders, the label may just fit.
The Prashant Kishor Update
Will Prashant Kishor join the Congress? A few weeks ago, we were told that the negotiations were all done barring the announcement. But that has not happened since. The speculation is that Kishor has asked to be appointed the organizational in-charge for he is looking to revamp the entire party keeping the next Lok Sabha in mind. His focus will not be on the next round of Assembly polls, which is why he gave up being advisor to Captain Amarinder Singh. However, is Rahul ready to hand over control of the party? Moreover, the Congress old guard has made it clear that they are not keen to see Kishor in such a weighty post. They would rather have Priyanka Gandhi Vadraor an Ashok Gehlot handle organisational matters than see an outsider take charge over them. Moreover, Rahul already has an organisational general secretary in place (K.C. Venugopal), whohe trusts implicitly. In the end, it all boils down to whothe young scion trusts the most.
Rajya Sabha politics
There are many claimants for the Maharashtra Rajya Sabha seat (from the Congress) that is now vacant after the untimely demise of Rajeev Satav. These include Rajni Patil, Prithviraj Chavan, Sanjay Nirupam, Milind Deora, Sachin Rao, Rajiv Shukla and Avinash Pandey. There is also a buzz that Satav’s widow was promised a seat by Rahul Gandhi. Also, it would be interesting to see who has the final say—if it’s Sonia Gandhi’s call then the seat may go to Rajni Patil, but if Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has a say, then Rajiv Shukla has an edge. Add to this list of aspirants the name of Ghulam Nabi Azad. The Congress was hoping to bring in this G 23 leader from Tamil Nadu, but was outsmarted by its ally DMK that unilaterally announced its nominees for two Rajya Sabha seats in the state, without consulting the Congress. (Later, the DMK claimed that its alliance with the Cong was only for Lok Sabha and Tamil Nadu Assembly polls but not for the Rajya Sabha.) What is making matters worse for the Congress is the ease with which Sushmita Dev and Priyanka Chaturvedi were given Rajya Sabha nominations by their new parties. In the end, the key question is, does loyalty get you a Rajya Sabha seat? The answer may not be what the Congress loyalists are hoping to hear.