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After a calamitous defeat in four state Assembly elections, the Congress is hoping to re-energise itself by announcing party vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s name as its prime ministerial candidate.
The stage is set for the January 17 All India Congress Committee convention, slated to chart the course for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The party’s most important decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee, is scheduled to meet a day before the convention. The last such convention was held at Burari in 2010.
Addressing the media on Monday, Congress leader Priya Dutt confirmed the speculation. “The entire Congress party and not just its young leaders are looking forward to the announcement on the prime ministerial candidate. There is a consensus within the party on Rahul Gandhi as our only leader.” Questioned further, she added, “Sonia Gandhi is our president. But Rahul Gandhi is our future projection.”
She said Rahul Gandhi had been focusing on revamping the party organisation not aggressively but subtly. “His projection has never been aggressive unlike some others that we see today,” she said, hinting at the BJP’s Narendra Modi.
She clarified that the party had been looking for a face and Rahul Gandhi was the obvious choice. The party was not clear as to where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stood in the new scheme of things. Younger leaders in the party are suggesting openly that Singh should step down and Rahul Gandhi should take over as Prime Minister right away.
But others repeat what Sonia Gandhi had said at her press conference after the Congress party lost the recent state elections: “Dr Singh will continue as Prime Minister till 2014. I have already said that.” There was no word from the Prime Minister’s office on this.
Rahul Gandhi’s elevation it might be said was a long forgone conclusion since the time Gandhi was anointed the party’s Vice President in Jaipur last January. At that time he had taken over the mantle as VP, compelled by his mother Sonia Gandhi’s ill health. Prior to that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself had publicly spoken of wanting Rahul Gandhi to take on a bigger role but Gandhi had always been reluctant to do so.
Since Jaipur, Rahul Gandhi had taken over day to day affairs of the party from the Congress President.
It was his hand which was evident in all the candidate selection to crucial appointments in these past four Assembly elections.
And if there was any doubt as to who called the shots within the party and the government then, the episode that unfolded over the “Ordinance” to protect tainted netas is evidence of Rahul Gandhi’s clout. Gandhi had trashed the UPA government’s ordinance describing it as “nonsense” after which an embarrassed PM and government withdrew the Ordinance.
Allies have been quitting the coalition at regular intervals and after the poll debacle, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had taken to his blog to target the Congress leadership, saying people do not like “weak leaders”.
Yesterday, it was long time southern ally DMK which had formally declared it would not be allying with the Congress in the run up to 2014.
Now on the anvil of the Parliament polls, it was Rahul Gandhi who publicly pushed for the contentious Lokpal bill to be passed, appealing to parties to set aside their differences. Flanked by senior ministers P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy, Gandhi portrayed the perfect picture of being the “man in charge.” The press conference ended the moment, Gandhi decided to abruptly get up and not answer any more questions; the senior ministers just followed suit.
