What has been described as the coronation of Rahul Gandhi to the No. 2 spot in the Congress Party next only to his mother, Sonia Gandhi, is a reflection of the state of the ruling party and the nation. The dynasty aspect is nothing new. We have had three generations of the Nehru-Gandhis ruling the country and the present dispensation is tantamount to the family ruling by proxy.
Rather, Mr Gandhi’s elevation was inevitable because there was no other way to energise the Congress, which has fallen on lean times. The enthusiastic, if not euphoric, reaction of the young, a natural Rahul constituency, was shared by the grey- and white-haired because the grassroots workers are now but a memory and it is only the family magic that can help the party retain power.
In splitting the Congress twice, Indira Gandhi had asserted both her own (and the family’s) supremacy and asserted a new form of political management that relied on wheeler-dealers, rather than grassroots workers, to win votes and govern the country. Her son Sanjay Gandhi cultivated his own brand whose longevity is evident from how well they are prospering in Sonia Gandhi’s Congress and in the government.
In the end, there was a compact between the Congress rank and file and the supreme leader. S/he could do no wrong as long as the leader delivered her or his part of the bargain: win elections. In a sense, Sonia Gandhi is the inheritor of that compact because she won two elections for the party and was thus in a position to instal her proxy in the Prime Minister’s chair.
Much as the party applauded Mr Gandhi’s formal elevation, doubts in the leadership and rank and file of the Congress arise precisely because of the fear that he might not measure up to the premise of the compact. Despite his eight years in the party, Mr Gandhi has given the impression of being strangely detached, and, apart from his known pep-up themes, has chosen not to pronounce on the burning issues of the day, most strikingly a theme close to the hearts of the country’s youth, the nationwide outrage over the brutal gangrape of a 23-year-old in Delhi and her subsequent death.
True, he gave the speech of his life at the Jaipur Congress jamboree while accepting the party’s vice-presidency, and yet the themes he emphasised were meant to pull at the heart-strings of the family’s ties to the party and its sacrifices: both his grandmother and his father died at the hands of assassin’s bullets. What he was amplifying was that the family had paid for exercising power with blood. Power, he said his mother had reminded him on the evening of his elevation, was a poisoned chalice.
It was no surprise how fawningly Congress leaders, in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet and outside it, rose as one man to fete Mr Gandhi as the new leader. The younger ones, aspirants to power positions, resorted to the medium of tweets to express their admiration, knowing his weakness for modern methods of communication. There was also relief in the party’s ranks that finally the reluctant prince had seemingly come to terms with his political responsibilities towards the Congress and the country.
Yet the nub of the problem is that Mr Gandhi is very much a work in progress. One swallow or speech does not make a summer and he has an enormous load of work ahead of him to prove to his party and countrymen that he is a serious leader who has his finger on the pulse of the country and knows how to begin reforming his party. Simple homilies of good behaviour and intentions will not do and many partymen are casting their gaze to his father Rajiv’s famous speech about ridding the party of power brokers. The power brokers are still very much part of the party scene today.
With the next general election due in 2014, Mr Gandhi does not have much time to shape up. While he must be seen to act in beginning to reform a geriatric party, he must make meaningful moves to frame coherent strategy to win in a contest in which the cards are stacked against the party. His record in winning seats in his campaigns in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is not encouraging.
There are inherent weaknesses in the Congress, which can neither be wished away nor be corrected overnight. What is needed though is the newly crowned vice-president’s resolve to be seen to be tackling his responsibilities in a meaningful way. Bringing in eager and idealistic young men and women in the party is a good thing, but they must be used to full effect by giving them achievable targets which must be achieved not merely on a computer screen but on the ground.
It would be idle to pretend that the wheeler-dealers who have become a permanent fixture in the Congress establishment will disappear. Neither can the party do without them. Instead, they should be used judiciously to further the party’s and country’s interests. Mr Gandhi has been careful in his declarations in paying obeisance to the grey heads; the stalwarts are needed as much, if not more than, novices in politics. The leader’s role lies in how to use them and keep them in their place.
Mr Gandhi’s difficulties are multiplied by the lacklustre performance of the UPA-2 and the new upsurge of the youth and the middle classes in a dual-leadership arrangement in the government that has not worked. Mercifully, the crisis in the main Opposition BJP gives some respite to the Congress to put its house in order. Mr Gandhi either learns on the job fast or metaphorically sinks.
The coming weeks and months will demonstrate how the new party vice-president begins to tackle his onerous responsibilities. He will, of course, have his mother’s support and helping hand but he must carve out his own path. The days of Jawaharlal Nehru are now but a distant memory. It is a different and far more fractious India that he must strive to guide.