NEW DELHI: In an obvious attempt to sideline and push out senior leaders of the party, former Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, proposes to retire colleagues who are over 70 years old, in a phased manner, so as to accommodate his supporters and leaders from the younger generation. The “weed out deadwood” operation has been apparently inspired by the Marg Darshak Mandal policy of the BJP, where leaders who had attained 75 years, were marginalised, having to give up important positions. Rahul’s intention is to give the Congress a face-lift in a bid to present a youthful countenance.
Although it is improbable that Sonia Gandhi, the interim president, shall allow the unprecedented plan to carry through, yet in case it is implemented, it will, in practical terms, mean that this would be the last and final tenure in Rajya Sabha of senior leaders such as Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, Ahmed Patel, P. Chidambaram, Digvijaya Singh and Mallikarjun Kharge. It will also imply that Chief Ministers, including Captain Amarinder Singh, Ashok Gehlot and V. Narayanasamy may not ever occupy the august office they are presently holding and senior leaders such as Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Siddaramaiah and Kamal Nath may not be in the reckoning for any future positions.
Speaking to a select group of younger party functionaries on the Cisco Webex platform, a day after the marathon virtual meeting of the Congress Working Committee, Rahul made it clear that he was looking for a “transformative change and not any incremental change”. In other words, the party should reflect the aspirations of a new India and for this to happen, it was of little significance to him if the Congress, yet again, lost the next election.
The proposed blueprint assumes substantial importance since both Rahul and Sonia were targeted in a letter signed by 23 top Congress functionaries, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, as well as half a dozen former Chief Ministers and several erstwhile ministers of the UPA government.
Consequently, the Gandhis, in a bid to quell the revolt, have both collectively and individually started targeting the signatories. The appointment of Gaurav Gogoi and Ravneet Singh Bittu as the deputy leader and whip of the party, respectively, in the Lok Sabha, amounts to showing seniors their place. More such nominations are likely to follow in the not too distant future. Earlier, Manish Tewari, who is in his fifties, was being viewed as someone who could either be the leader or deputy leader in the Lok Sabha. He and Shashi Tharoor are evidently out of favour, though the latter has tried to mend his differences, urging party men to let bygones be bygones, as was advised by Sonia Gandhi. Azad, whose Rajya Sabha term comes to an end in January 2021, may also be replaced by someone like Mallikarjun Kharge, taking into consideration Sonia Gandhi’s known preferences for Dalits and minorities.
The virtual meeting on the Cisco Webex was attended by Rajiv Satav, Manickam Tagore, Sushmita Dev, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, Gaurav Gogoi and Rajeev Gowda. K.C. Venugopal, general secretary in charge of Organisation acted as the admin. As usual, Rahul appeared at the meeting nearly 50 minutes late, keeping everyone waiting.
Significantly, five other leaders, who were earlier sounded to also be present through Webex were informed that the conference had been postponed. These five include Dinesh Gundu Rao, Amit Deshmukh, Deepender Hooda, Jitin Prasada and Anil Choudhury.
Needless to say, they are apparently displeased at being left out since this is also a signal to them, besides being an indication of the pecking order, so far as the former president is concerned.
Rahul is understood to have reiterated that many of the dissenters were in communication with the Bharatiya Janata Party. His mantra for the future was that 70-plus leaders should not be given tickets for either the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha, with younger leaders replacing them in key party positions. Responding to a reaction from one of the attendees, that keeping out leaders above the age of 70 from crucial decision-making processes would have its own share of repercussions, Rahul stated that he did not, by a long shot, dread losing the next general election. He was unafraid of the “backlash, and it was not a small step but a big step”.
He reminded everyone that he had known most of the elders since his father’s time and in spite of being provided pivotal positions, “their ambitious appetite remains unquenched”. He further went on to say that he was prepared for a long overhaul and was readying himself to make real structural changes. The time had come to go in for a “Kamaraj” type plan for the high command to have a free hand in reconstituting the party. He cautioned the participants from sharing the information with others, stating that he would come down heavily in the event of such a happening.
The ambitious plan has sent most of the attendees in a panic mode. This could sow seeds for a virtual division in the party. The assertive manner in which Rahul spoke, also demonstrates that he was keen to remain the principal decision-making person without having any formal position. In plainspeak, he possibly wanted to be the de-facto president. However, it is most unlikely that Sonia Gandhi would permit any kind of drastic structural changes, given that she is known to be a hardcore status-quoist, having immense faith in her coterie and a handful of senior leaders.
Sources in the Congress said that the letter written by senior leaders had unsettled the Gandhis and they were willing to show the dissenters their rightful place. However, they are aware that the rank and file of the Congress agree with the points raised in the communication and want elections to be held, for not only the CWC, but also for the president’s post. There has also been a demand for the revival of the Parliamentary Board in order to collectively take crucial decisions.
According to a source, the letter to Sonia Gandhi was leaked to the press only after some kind of unexpected activity was witnessed in Rahul’s camp, which at one point was considering to appoint K.C. Venugopal as the interim president. Besides Venugopal, those considered extremely close to Rahul include Rajiv Satav, Manickam Tagore, Ajay Maken and Anil Choudhury. They are viewed as his cabal. However, it is yet to be ascertained whether the dissenters divulged the contents of the letter or was it someone close to Sonia Gandhi who wanted to thwart any move to upgrade Venugopal. A few older leaders are also perturbed over Avinash Pande’s replacement as general secretary in charge of Rajasthan by Ajay Maken. Apparently, the high command has tried to placate Pande by designating him as the convener of the screening committee for the Bihar elections.
In another development, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, is seeking to be assigned Assam and some Northeast states in the same capacity, in lieu of her present assignment. This, perhaps, is under consideration since the party hopes to perform well in the Assembly elections to be held early next year in Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Veterans of the party foresee a gloomy future for the Congress. They seem to be in agreement with Indira Gandhi’s political adviser, Makhan Lal Fotedar’s observation in his book, Chinar Leaves. Fotedar had pronounced that the Congress has reached a cul-de-sac and could not be revived because, “Sonia is not Indira and Rahul is not Sanjay”. This, while alluding, to the grand comeback by the party within three years, after the humiliating defeat of 1977, in which both Indira and Sanjay had been trounced by their opponents.
The Congress saga will witness many more inconceivable developments in the next few months.