Congress revisits dual post

MANDATE 2004

Will Sonia Gandhi continue to be the Congress President and Prime Minister ? This was the question the party was asking itself after the Congress's unprecedented victory under Sonia Gandhi's leadership.

The Congress has had a tradition of appointing the same person who is Prime Minister as president of the party. Rajiv Gandhi briefly did away with this practice by appointing Arjun Singh as vice-president but found that Singh was becoming too active, amid suspicions fomented by others that he wanted to undercut Gandhi.

Kamlapati Tripathi remained working president of the party despite deeply embittered relations with the Prime Minister. However, given Sonia Gandhi's inexperience in administration, it is possible that she may appoint another tier to run the affairs of the party.

It is clear now that several organisational posts will have new incumbents. The chances are that leaders like Ambika Soni and Ahmad Patel will be rewarded with ministerships and new persons appointed in their place.

Soni, who was advisor to Congress president and Ahmad who was handling Delhi, have overseen the election and have delivered a good verdict. The party will also have to review its performance in the states that are going for assembly elections next year - including Tamil Nadu - to sustain the momentum of its victory.

If the Left Front joins the government, how the Congress will ask its party units to behave in Kerala and West Bengal where the Left is its primary enemy, will also be interesting to watch.

The Congress will have to decide on how it will treat Mps who have contested and lost the election. Promising leaders like Prithviraj Chauhan (Karad) could return to Parliament through the Rajya Sabha route; or could join the organisation.

The party's primary responsibility currently is to ensure it gets to form a government in Karnataka. In this endeavour, it may have to replace its chief minister, SM Krishna by another incumbent because Krishna is seen as a caste competitor by Janata Dal S and Vokkaliga leader, HD Deve Gowda. This means Krishna will also have to be found another job.

Politically, the party will move aggressively to reassure minorities that they will be safe. This means that more and more Muslim faces are likely to be seen in important positions in the party and government. Gandhi's tasks will get more complex as time elapses.

Wether like Rajiv Gandhi, she will appoint a minister of state for the Prime Minister's Office remains to be seen though party leaders say this is unlikely.