A congress led by a non gandhi

A congress led by a non gandhi

The Congress would appear to be in for a major upheaval. It could either emerge stronger or splinter, making way for another formation to fill the vacuum created by its rudderless drift.

A listless, leaderless Congress has denied the nation the Opposition that a democracy requires to complement the ruling party. However, whether the internal turmoil will result in a stronger, more cohesive party or a split that weakens it remains an open question. Either way, the nation is likely to be presented with a version of the Congress that is not led by a member of the Gandhi family. ET first reported the serious disaffection in the party’s senior ranks that has been conveyed to the acting party president, last Friday.

It now emerges that more than 20 senior leaders, including longtime insiders Ghulam Na- bi Azad and Anand Sharma have written to the interim president of the party, Sonia Gandhi, on the need for a fulltime president, ending the current ad-hoc system of leadership, in which effective leadership functions are carried out by Rahul Gandhi, altho- ugh he had resigned as party president in May 2019, in the wake of the party’s drubbing in the general elections.

His abrupt resignation conveniently avoided a thorough scrutiny of his leadership that had abandoned the formal party campaign platform and reduced the Congress election plank to personal at- tacks on Prime Minister Modi linked to the Rafale fighter aircraft acquisition. His resignation did not convulse the party into a mass prostration at his feet begging him to take back the presidency.

Instead, the party called upon ailing Sonia Gandhi to take on the role of interim president, fighting shy of choosing a non-Gandhi to lead the party. A year and more of ineffectual politics-by-statement, the party would appear to have found the courage to demand a change of leadership.

A Rahul lobby is bound to pitch for Rahul as party president. If that is rammed through, the logic of recent development suggests a formal split. Either eventuality would yield a Congress led by a non-Gandhi. Dinosaurs alone have to fear evolution.