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Congress : Son rises on the horizon, though reluctantly

	May 01, 2006

Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son and apparent political heir Rahul Gandhi is getting ready to play a greater political role in the body politic. Initially, he has been catapulted to the centre-stage in Uttar Pradesh where his mother Sonia Gandhi is seeking re-election to the Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli in a by-election caused by her resignation from Parliament on the office-of-profit issue. By all accounts, it is going to be a cake walk for the Congress president as the most important political parties of the state have failed to put up candidates against her who can make their presence felt. The candidates put up by the Samajwadi Party, which is heading the ruling coalition in Uttar Pradesh and the BJP which used to be a strong political force in the state, do not inspire much confidence. The Samajwadi Party nominee is a political greenhorn while the BJP has put up an unwilling Vinay Katiyar, who was persuaded with great difficulty to fight Sonia Gandhi in the by-election.



Rahul Gandhi, who has been made in-charge of Sonia Gandhi’s election campaign, made known his willingness to shoulder more responsibility to turn around the Congress fortunes in Uttar Pradesh while kick-starting the campaign on April 25. He told reporters he would do whatever his party leaders expected of him in the coming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.



“I’m ready to take the responsibility of leading the party in the state if the high command so asks. If the central leadership gives me the responsibility, I can turn around the fortunes of the party in the state”, he said. This was the first time Rahul hinted at moving out of his constituency and taking the responsibility of reviving the party in Uttar Pradesh.



Rahul’s remarks assume significance in the context of statements often made by party leaders asking him to carve a larger role for himself in the Congress. During the AICC plenary in Hyderabad earlier this year, party delegates had hailed him as the future leader and asked him to take a bigger responsibility. He had then said he was till a learner and needed more time.



Rahul’s latest remarks have been welcomed by the party - both in the state and in Delhi. UPCC chief Salman Khurshid said Rahul fitted the bill as “he has a vision.”



Ashok Gehlot, who is in-charge of UP said : “Rahul should be made general secretary in charge of frontal organisations so that it benefits the party in UP and other parts of the country.”







Rahul Gandhi who is camping in Rae Bareli for the Lok Sabha by-election utilised his speeches last week to attack the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government in Uttar Pradesh. Addressing a series of meetings on Thursday, April 27, he said, the Samajwadi Party Government has been neglecting the basic problems of the people. He said the Government headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav had been creating hurdles in the way of development of the state in general and Rae Bareli and Amethi in particular. Rahul Gandhi alleged that the state Government had done nothing to address the basic issues of water, power and roads.



In another development, Sonia Gandhi has appointed her daughter Priyanka Vadra as her election agent for the Rae Bareli, polling scheduled for May 8. Both Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra are expected to campaign extensively in Rae Bareli this week.



On way to take centre-stage in national politics



Observers say that Rahul Gandhi’s statement indicating his willingness to lead the party in Assembly elections due in Uttar Pradesh next year is a clear pointer that he wants to take centre-stage in national politics. Apparently, he is hopeful of getting the support of party workers all over the country. Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in Rae Bareli appeared to be a step forward from his maiden speech at the Hyderabad plenary session of the Congress in January where he had said that he is willing to serve the party in whatever way he is required to contribute. Like in Hyderabad, he left the decision on whether he should play a bigger role at the present juncture to his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. There is already speculation in Congress circles that he may be made both party general secretary and member of the working committee to start with.



In case Rahul Gandhi is made party general secretary, he would be clearly No. 2 in the Congress, given his proximity to the party president, and the lack of political standing of other party leaders at the top.





Murmurs against Prime Minister



Significantly, Rahul Gandhi’s upward journey in the Congress has come at a time when increasingly murmurs are being heard in the party about the style of functioning of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his not being politically savvy. A number of newspapers had carried reports that several members of parliament are unhappy that the Prime Minister and his office are not easily accessible to them. There is a feeling that the Prime Minister has to be more accessible if the United Progressive Alliance Government achievements such as over 8 per cent growth of the economy and job guarantee legislation are to become a source of ground level political support.



The main grouse of MPs against the Prime Minister is that he is reluctant to get involved in political management. A senior Congress MP observed, “Congress MPs do not get his appointment. Even if they do, it is of little use because he does not take interest in political developments and ask them to raise the matter before Sonia Gandhi. But Left Front MPs can meet him easily.”



Observers say that the ‘dissidence’ is likely to worsen after Sonia Gandhi gets a renewed mandate from Rae Bareli. Party loyalists-cum-dissidents are expected to fight the internal battle with the help of external supporters - Left leaders. This is because the Left has been opposed to certain economic policies of the Manmohan Singh Government and what they call “a pro-US” foreign policy.



The last two years have been a learning period for the Congress. The current dispensation is the first Congress-led government that is not headed by the AICC president. MPs and other leaders, earlier used to getting things done through a “political” Prime Minister, are now looking for greater access to the PMO and a more “political” response from it on state-related issues.



But there is also pride at the Prime Minister’s image which the Opposition could not dent despite the Iran vote or the Nuclear deal with the US. There is also satisfaction at the achievements of the UPA regime, including the eight per cent economic growth and Sonia’s role in ensuring the fulfilment of the CMP promise of passing the historic Right to Information and National Rural Employment Guarantee Acts. If there is concern, it is about the rise of prices and the need to put them under check.



The latest to come out against the Prime Minister is permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee M.L. Fotedar. In characteristic style, Fotedar used the book written by late Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao on Ayodhya to strongly censure Dr Manmohan Singh.



He said he had raised the issue of the Babri Mosque at a Cabinet meeting on December 4, 1992, and had then said, “Nothing has been done there, anything can happen.” Rao, he said, had responded to this by saying he was looking into it. Dr Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister at the time, supported Rao, according to

Fotedar. “I told him (Dr Manmohan Singh), `Kindly keep quiet, it is our duty to protect the disputed structure,’” he said.



In the same interview, to a Hindi magazine, Fotedar spoke of the Cabinet meeting of December 6, 1992, when, he claimed, he had suggested that Rao should take responsibility for the demolition of the mosque as this would ensure the emergence of a new Congress party. He said all the Cabinet ministers remained silent, “no one supported me.” Congress leaders are openly reading these remarks as a reference to the Prime Minister.









Congress Ministers publicly airing differences



Party circles are aghast at the phenomenon of Congress Ministers in the Manmohan Singh Government publicly airing their differences on crucial policy matters. They point in this context to the conflicting views expressed on the reservation issue by Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh and Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal. Former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh’s interviews, where he attacked India’s handling of the developments in Nepal and the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, also indicate, according to party circles, the weakening of discipline in the party.



Even though Arjun Singh’s remarks on the reservation issue have been controversial, party circles have not taken kindly to another Minister, Kapil Sibal, contradicting the views put forth by a senior leader like Arjun Singh in public. They also note the fact that Kapil Sibal’s open contradiction of the reservation proposals put forth by Arjun Singh came at a time when he was traveling with the Prime Minister on a visit to Germany and Uzbekistan.



Kapil Sibal appears to have felt the party pressure which was indicated in issuing a clarification that his remarks about excellence were not directed at the Human Resource Development Ministry’s policy. He said that his remarks had nothing to do with “either quota reservation or Constitution amendment.”



There are reports that Arjun Singh had after Thursday’s cabinet meeting, strongly protested to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Ministers should not criticise their colleagues on issues that do not come under their purview. He did not, however, name Sibal, the Science and Technology Minister.



But on Saturday, April 29, Sibal told a news agency from Tunis : “I have not talked about quota or reservation policy of the Government. What I have said was that India must continue to have competitive edge because the world is looking towards it for high quality human resources.” He wondered how this could be against reservations, which has to be decided by the Cabinet.



Besides, he said : “Excellence is not against reservation. You can achieve both things. You can have a reservation policy and still have excellence.” Clearly keen not to have any misunderstanding, he recalled he had replied in the negative when asked at Hanover earlier if his references were directed at the reservation policy.



Congress ambiguous on reservation issue



The Congress has decided to keep away from the controversy on Arjun Singh’s remarks on reservation for other backward classes (OBCs). This was reflected in Rahul Gandhi’s statement in Rae Bareli, “It is a very complex issue, both sides have valid points.”