Political Diary

New Delhi, 18 January 2014

Rahul’s Tryst With Destiny

HEADS I WIN TAILS CONGRESS LOSES

By Poonam I Kaushish

When the going gets tough the tough get going. Not in today’s changing political dynamics. Bluntly, in the Congress lexicon the Party is intent on following the dictum: Bhagteh chor ke langot he sahi. Roughly, you run away to fight another day!

Succinctly, the crux of the much-awaited AICC session at Delhi’s Talkotara Stadium Friday last. Instead of anointing Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial face to take on BJP challenger Narinder Modi, Mama Sonia made plain that it was against the Party’s tradition. Sic. No matter the crescendo of Congressmen chanting Dynasty!

Why didn’t Sonia not take on BJP challenger ‘Shahenshah’ Narendra Modi? Or heed her leaders on such a crucial issue? Did the Party develop cold feet? Obviously, yes. Pithily, fear of failure as an internal survey showed the Congress winning less than 100 seats, below its lowest of 114 won in 1999 polls. Any wonder that the crisis and tension is visible.

Consequently, it did not make any sense to burden Rahul with the incumbency woes of the Manmohan Singh Government and make him a scapegoat as the Party faces its worst ever crisis. Thus, the need to protect the head of campaign 2014 from the avalanche of derision and ridicule post poll if he fails in stem the slide in fortunes.

Working on the dictum ‘heads-I-win-tail-you-lose, the Party consciously decided not to fall for the BJP bait and play the game by Modi’s rules to ensure the polls do not get reduced to a Rahul-Modi binary fight. Thus, Rahul has to be protected at all costs. If the Party loses, it’s a “collective” loss and if it wins, RaGa gets the credits.

An encore of the calibrated reactions of the Party’s to the recent Assembly elections debacle. The Party made sure that its Vice President remained unscathed. Of course, it's equally true that it did not have any other option and precisely because of this, the Congress's young brigade is setting its eyes and pinning its hopes on Rahul baba. 

In his passionate and forceful speech, even as 43-year-old Rahul lauded the Congress as a “video in our hearts… vision of love and respect”, he took a leaf from Kejriwal’s AAP book and talked of empowering the aam aadmi albeit having a say in the manifesto and deciding 15 Lok Sabha seats, to begin with.

Two, all candidates would be chosen after discussions at all levels, including blocks and gram, along-with strengthening Youth Congress and NSUI by electing representatives. Three, the mother-son duo tried to turn Modi’s ‘development and get-rid-of-corruption’ battle in to an ideological one of the trite communalism vs. secularism issue. 

Questionably, it is a moot point if Polls 2014 Rahul would have his own tryst with destiny? Of a recluse-reluctant heir apparent? Become a catalyst of an amorphous Party? Or are winds of change sweeping the moribund 128-year-old Grand Old Party? Not at all. The dread of collapse is palpable.

Ten years of the Congress-dominated UPA Government also known as the Decade of humungous scams, it has hardly any achievements to catch the popular imagination on which Rahul Gandhi can have a safe ride. Poor governance, policy paralysis, surging inflation and sky-rocketing prices is not giving any relief to the people, MREGA is history and the Lokpal Bill and Land Reform Act a classic case of too little to late.

Add to this a resurgent opposition’s aggressive anti-Congress polemics and Aam Aadmi Party's wild-card entry as the dark horse in the fight for India’s Raj gaddi, not a few feel its going to be a tussle between Modi-Kejriwal and not Rahul which make Congress' cup of woes overflow. Of course, he could blame it on lack of publicity by the Party machinery, but the fact remains that Congressmen are impatient and directionless.

Disgruntled leaders, dejected workers and directionless cadres surreptitiously and quietly blame Rahul and his coterie for the ills that afflict the Party. Shockingly, one could forgive the fact that in the decade he has been in Parliament Rahul did not even ask one question and participated in just two debates.

But how does on justify his blink-and-miss ‘nonsense’ appearances on the criminal-netas ordinance and Adarsh scam topped by a no-show on vital issues agitating the country. A perfect recipe for disaster.

Today, Rahul will face a complex situation while establishing his leadership. The timid mindset that has developed over the years in the Congress, which attaches a premium to loyalty and sycophancy, will be hard to counter. The darbari culture, which Rahul seems to be allergic to, can't be genuinely replaced without his own credentials coming under scrutiny.

Undeniably, Rahul will have to be less and less radical as he establishes himself. Consequently, in its comatose present state the forthcoming battle at the hustings are crucial for Rahul and the Congress. The Party could disintegrate if it fares poorly. Especially as he continues to be seen as 'work in progress'.

Not a few senior leaders are worried that politics could spin out of control in the next three months. Confided a leader, “The AICC session was choreographed political maneouvering to show that Rahul enjoys support among potential allies and that the Congress is still in fighting mode with a definite agenda, strategy and vision.”

Despite, this intention, the Party faces multiple challenges: Effectiveness of Rahul’s style and inner-Party experiments and the negative tag of being a ‘reluctant leader’.  Coupled with the fact that the Congress is today saddled with small time netas who at best can come up with tokenism and “me-tooism”.

The most unpleasant aspect of all this is the withering of internal democracy. It has made the Party hopelessly dependent on initiative from above and tragically immobile in its absence.

Clearly, Rahul has to think beyond gimmicks, politricking and stop scoring debating points. He needs to evolve a collective style of functioning and win back the trust and confidence of the people in terms of his ability to find solutions to the major problems confronting the country. If the internal discord between the old guard and the baba log continues it could have serious ramifications.

Fingers are crossed that he would brush under the carpet all the Party’s misdemeanours, scandals which continue to pop up like the proverbial bad penny, leaving the Party more deflated than ever. Provide a new direction, sense of consolidation and organizational renewal.

Thus, in the highly sycophantic Party where politics begins an ends with the Nehru-Gandhi khandaan, the average Congressman no only derives his strength and hope from the First Family but also fastens leech-like on the “undaate”, living off its goodwill. An unwritten sacrosanct bond that only the progenies can help him achieve political and electoral success.

Election 2014 will decide if RaGa would be able to resurrect the crumbling Congress edifice and end the 25 year-old drought of a Gandhi scion leading India? Remember, politics is a heartless and unforgiving mistress. ----- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)