OLD VOICES REJOIN THE CHORUS
In a bid to bolster its communications strategy, the Congress is calling back party stalwarts to drum up some excitement over a possible coronation of the reluctant heir
On July 18, at around 9.45 pm, the newly formed 10-member communication strategy committee of the Congress met for the second time. For 20 minutes, it deliberated if the party should attack the NDA government at the Centre for its ‘failure’ to handle the border stand-off with China. Not convinced the Congress would get enough media mileage on the issue, it was decided to leave China for debate and discussion in Parliament. Instead, party spokesperson Rajeev Gowda was to address the press and raise the matter of the Reserve Bank of India failing to complete the counting of old currency deposited post-demonetisation, between November 2016 and March 2017. Later in the day, Gowda’s press briefing was cancelled because a media interaction was organised with Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the party’s candidate for the vice-presidential elections.
Such ad hocism not only defines the Congress’s communication strategy but also reflects the present state of affairs in the party. The team was set up a day after the Congress took flak for the flip-flop over whether its vicepresident, Rahul Gandhi, had met Chinese ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui amid the ongoing border face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Doklam plateau.
On July 10, when TV channels flashed that Rahul had met the envoy, Randeep Singh Surjewala, the Congress’s communications in-charge, launched a counter-attack, questioning the media’s ‘silence’ over the presence of four Union ministers in China. Though Surjewala’s tweets did not deny Rahul’s meeting with the Chinese envoy, the media read it that way. Surjewala remained incommunicado for the next three hours, attending to his father, who was undergoing surgery in Chandigarh. Later, it was Rahul who ended the speculation over his meeting by tweeting: “It is my job to be informed on critical issues.”
According to insiders, mishandling of the media over Rahul’s meeting with the Chinese envoy offered the old guard an opportunity to persuade president Sonia Gandhi to curb the vice-president’s control over the communications team headed by Surjewala. Several party veterans were uncomfortable taking a brief from Surjewala, who is much younger than them and takes instructions directly from Rahul. The communication strategy team is being perceived more as an attempt to empower the Congress old guard with greater authority than bolster the party’s publicity campaigns.
The other view is that this is Sonia’s effort to build bridges between Rahul and party old-timers before he takes over as president. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, P. Chidambaram and Anand Sharma are considered to have been picked in the communication strategy team because of their key roles in Parliament. Jairam Ramesh, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sushmita Dev are seen as Rahul’s choices. Most intriguing is the inclusion of Mani Shankar Aiyar as he gets a party role after a long stint in the wilderness. “It will be interesting to watch Aiyar, Chidambaram and Jairam together devise a communication strategy,” says a Congress general secretary.
A sense of anxiety has also prevailed among party
veterans ever since it was decided that the next Congress president would be elected by October 15—many of them are unsure of Rahul’s leadership abilities, particularly after the drubbing in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and also fear being sidelined. The party leadership had deferred organisational elections for two years, but the Election Commission has now forced its hand by setting a December 2017 deadline to complete the process.
Sonia has conveyed to several top party leaders that she is ready to hand over the baton to Rahul whenever he is ready, but the vice-president wants his promotion through election. This has given Sonia’s advisory team the window to defer Rahul’s elevation. “Their nervousness is understandable,” says a former Rajya Sabha member of the party. “We have all seen how Indira Gandhi cut the syndicate to size, how Rajiv Gandhi sliced like salami Indira Gandhi’s close aides, and how Sonia Gandhi got rid of Rajiv loyalists.”
Although the general perception is that Rahul is still reluctant to take charge, an election strategist in the party says Sonia was never confident of vacating the chair for her son. She was apprehensive that Rahul lacked a politically savvy team that would back him and handle the party stalwarts. “Rahul could not really decide on issues,” says the strategist. “Things moved only if Sonia was convinced, two examples being the Congress joining the mahagathbandhan in Bihar and striking an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh.” The reason for Rahul’s two-month sabbatical in 2015 could be “disappointment over being unable to push through his vision”, he adds.
Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh does not agree. He says Rahul has the final word in organisational matters. “Of course, decisions are taken in consultation with the president, but he is firmly in control of the party,” says Singh, who believes Rahul’s travels abroad must not always be seen as vacations.
Whatever be the reason, these breaks have often forced Sonia—who for the past three years has preferred to take a backseat, both due to health reasons and to create space for Rahul—to get proactive on political matters. Party insiders claim while Rahul has failed to establish an equation with senior leaders of other parties, Sonia even now manages to stitch together an Opposition game plan. She played her part in fielding candidates for the election of the country’s president and vice-president, for example. Congress general secretary C.P. Joshi, however, disagrees. “From Akhilesh Yadav and Nitish Kumar in the north to M.K. Stalin in the south, Rahul Gandhi has excellent rapport with leaders of other parties,” he says.
Rahul’s biggest challenge will be to create strong regional leaders who can help the party win state elections. In Madhya Pradesh, which votes next year, Rahul wants Jyotiraditya Scindia as the chief ministerial candidate. But nine-time Lok Sabha MP Kamal Nath is also keen to be the party’s face in the election. Nath has Sonia’s backing. So far, the mother and son have not arrived at a decision, leaving the poll campaign in limbo. “When they don’t agree, they don’t decide,” says a Lok Sabha MP from the party. “That’s how we lost several leaders—Himanta Biswa Sarma in Assam, Ajit Jogi in Chhattisgarh.”
Rahul’s supporters believe delays in decisions will end once he gets elected to the top post. “Sonia struggled between 1998 and 2004, often facing ridicule over her country of origin whereas Rahul has not yet taken charge,” says a Congress general secretary, missing the subtle difference—Rahul has been on probation for over a decade. Sonia did not have any such luxury.