Rahul takes centre stage

S Nihal Singh

THE inevitability of Mr Rahul Gandhi succeeding his mother Sonia to the party presidency and hence titular national leadership demonstrates both the strength and the weakness of the Congress.

The Nehru-Gandhi family has always been the focus of the party in independent India starting with the pioneering days of Jawaharlal who set the country on a modern secular course the preset dispensation is seeking to undo. Other members of the dynasty have made their contributions although Indira, who evolved to become a determined leader, won plaudits for her role for steering the country through the 1971 Bangladesh War and condemnation for imposing the Emergency.

The experience of national movements assuming power after gaining freedom is depressing. After an initial phase, the new rulers are too often corrupt and the lure for power of armed forces too hard to resist. Budding institutions are simply too weak to be able to cope. By that yardstick, India has done reasonably well until now.

There have been aberrations, apart from the Emergency and the antics of Indira’s younger son Sanjay. Corruption grew and the Congress under Rajiv sought to rule by making too many compromises, particularly on the great religious divide. The long spell of rule the Congress had enjoyed made it opportunistic and too many yielded to the temptation of making money.

In this brief recounting of Congress history, Sonia’s Italian birth did not deter the single-minded devotion she showed in ensuring family succession. Her own ability to keep the party floating for 19 long years of political turmoil and change was a remarkable feat. Since Rahul was not ready to assume national responsibilities, she resorted to the unfortunate experiment of calling the shots while giving Dr Manmohan Singh the titular office of Prime Minister.

The surprise was in the Congress winning a second five-year term as the leader of the UPA. But the weaknesses of a Prime Minister without substantive power became apparent in the second term. Yet when the history of these days gets to be written, Sonia’s key role will deserve a long chapter. Her ability to keep the party together despite being reduced to 44 MPs in the Lok Sabha in 2014 was no mean feat.

What then are the prospects for Rahul’s leadership? His early forays in politics were stumbling. Older readers will recall his grandmother Indira’s awkward initial period on assuming leadership; she was derided for relying on advisers popularly dubbed the kitchen cabinet. Whether Rahul can acquire anything approaching his grandmother’s determination and political skills is too early to tell.

Judging by Rahul’s campaign performance in Gujarat, he seems to have learnt a few lessons, perhaps flowing from his realisation that he is fated to continue his family’s legacy whatever his own preferences might be. He has picked a few tricks of the political trade: one-liners, rather than ponderous responses, win headlines.

Judging by the formalities he observed before filing his nomination paper by calling on two senior leaders, the former President and PM, he has signalled his intention to seek their advice. Above all, he has shown during the Gujarat election campaign that he has given up his stand-offish ways to greet his party men with warmth and affection and taken to adopting a more open face towards the public.

Above all, Nehru-Gandhi dynasty succeeded in keeping the Congress together, despite its dismal showing in the 2014 general election. Immediately after Indira’s assassination, the party had sought to seek shelter in relying on son Rajiv.

It would be an understatement to say that Rahul has a mountain to climb. He will obviously bring in a new executive team to represent a generation change but he will have to take care not to hurt the vanities of the senior leaders. His most essential task, irrespective of the results of the Gujarat and Himachal Assembly elections, will be to inspire and build the party.

It is universal knowledge that the once famed Congress network reaching out to small towns and villages has atrophied. The party needs an army of workers who are inspired enough to undertake a new outreach to match anything like the dedication of workers of the Sangh Parivar, particularly the RSS, come election time.

We are, of course, living in very different times since the days of Congress ascendancy. In a bow to the changed atmosphere with the propagation of a majoritarian theme, Rahul has been visiting temples in Gujarat and calls himself a follower of Shiva. It will be recalled that his father earned many brickbats in the Shah Bano case.

Patently, the BJP’s beating of drums for the Hindu cause has sharply brought out the end of the phase of Western-oriented leaders who had operated in an open environment, with Mahatma Gandhi linking the Congress with the masses and peasants. The present rulers, on the other hand, revel in a largely mythical past and want to assert their right to do business primarily in the interest of the majority.

Rahul therefore has to negotiate a delicate path by being mindful of the country’s new sensibility without sacrificing the creed of secularism. His temple pilgrimages in Gujarat were in the nature of guarding his religious flank, as demonstrated by the song and dance the BJP sought to make of his allegedly signing a “not Hindu” temple register. Rahul and the entire Congress leadership have to draw the line. It is a work very much in progress.

Apart from the predictability of Rahul’s succession, many in the party were waiting for the generational change because while senior leaders have their place, youth need young leadership they can relate to. In earlier stages, Rahul was awkward in making this transition to the annoyance of elders.

The danger he faces is not to be obliged to an exclusive coterie in making decisions. While he learns the ropes of the political game, he must embrace the merits of building a consensus within the party as much as well as in the country.