Can another Gandhi prevent the decline?
SONIA GANDHI FACES BIG DILEMMA IN CHOOSING SUCCESSOR
With Congress-samajwadi Party alliance having been firmed up, slogans such as “Priyanka Lao, Desh Bachao” are being heard. Leaders of the coalition feel that that being a vote catcher, there will be a windfall of votes for the Congress and SP if she actively campaigns. Congress excitement has now spiked after top leaders publicly stated that Priyanka played a direct role in cementing Congress’s alliance with SP. Reportedly, she was also mainly responsible for drafting Navjot Singh Sidhu into party’s Punjab unit. Alliance leaders feel that Priyanka is a ‘Brahmastra’ who would perform miracles for them.
Priyanka is unmistakably a crowd puller, a striking figure in her handloom saris similar to her grandmother Indira Gandhi. She was once called by former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt ‘a political animal’. Priyanka has always professed a steadfast reluctance to plunge into politics and seemed almost squeamishly wary of becoming a politician.
At the moment she is a novelty. She has natural charisma and comes across as straightforward and communicative. Given her lack of experience and the fact that she has now decided to campaign across Uttar Pradesh and not remain confined to Rae Bareli and Amethi.
Of course, just as Rahul Gandhi was given credit for 21 seats in UP in 2009 after his political debut in 2004, perhaps Priyanka, too, will get credit if Congress—sp alliance does well, particularly in family pocket boroughs. In 2012, the Congress was routed in Amethi and Rae Bareli, winning just two of ten Assembly seats. SP was the winner. Equally, if the Congress alliance does not do well on the Gandhi home turf, then the responsibility will have to be laid at Priyanka’s door just as Rahul must be held accountable for Congress’s overall collapse across UP since he had led the party.
The cry for Priyanka reveals once again how entrenched dynastic urges are within Congress. Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia, or even P. Chidambaram can best be chamberlains, never chairpersons or CEO in Congress Pvt Ltd where bloodline determines the leadership. Those with decades of experience in public life have to accept their secondary position, even as an untested Priyanka is projected as the face of future.
The chant for Priyanka is also a tacit acceptance of the unfortunate fact that Rahul Gandhi has utterly failed so far to win broad acceptance in the Congress as a Captain who can lead from the front. Rahul has spent more than a decade in politics but still has not proved to be a vote-catcher or a galvaniser of cadres. If one dynast didn’t quite succeed, can another?
Congress believes Priyanka’s resemblance to Indira Gandhi will be enough to draw crowds and votes. But Indira Gandhi had spent two decades in politics before becoming Prime Minister. Nehru’s daughter fought a bitter battle for supremacy with party bosses; she was not offered supreme power on a platter. Besides, politics in India is now cruelly competitive. Vinay Katiyar’s comments about Priyanka’s pettiness were idiotic not least because political success is not about being merely photogenic.
Today Congress is up against the highly motivated BJP, with relentless and ruthless comments of PM Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah who lead a hungry, wellorganised army. Both Modi and Shah are 24x7 politicians who never take holidays and who have made politics a very competitive game. There is no room for slackness anymore. Amit Shah is not your friendly neighbour rival, he is calling for a Congress-mukt Bharat.
Until now Priyanka has been guarding Rae Bareli and Amethi. Supervising her mother and brother’s campaigns is one thing, challenging a crack force like BJP or even BSP is quite another. So far Priyanka has not undertaken hard battles for the Congress. So far she has practised the politics of touch and go.
Perhaps, it is vulnerability she carries as Robert Vadra’s wife, which makes her diffident. After all, any high-profile entry into politics will almost instantly lead BJP to question the Vadra business model or famous quantum leap in wealth, as Prashant Bhushan has cited, from Rs.50 lakhs to 300 crore rupees in three years.
Perhaps, Priyanka is worried about a possible turf war with her brother. Down the decades, the Nehru-gandhi dynasty has worked with a clear division of power. When Nehru ruled, his sister Vijayalakshmi was in public life but nowhere near the power centre. In the Indira years when Sanjay was anointed her chosen heir, Rajiv remained the pilot, firmly opposed to politics. Congress always chooses a sole heir, and the formal entry of Priyanka would naturally marginalise Rahul in the minds of Congress workers.
Can a mere leadership change reverse a decline of the Congress? IPA (The views expressed are strictly personal.)
Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia, or even P. Chidambaram can best be chamberlains, never chairpersons or CEO in Congress Pvt Ltd where bloodline determines the leadership. Those with decades of experience in public life have to accept their secondary position