Sonia Gandhi Returns As Congress Boss, Scuppers Rahul's Vision Of Shedding Dynastic Taint

For Sonia, who first became Congress president in 1998 and was its longest-serving chief, there are no easy ans­wers; some 18 months ago she had handed over all responsibilities of the party to her son and heir, Rahul Gandhi, 49. Now it바카라�s her burden to bear, again. So much for  Rahul바카라�s May 25 renunciation and insistence on a non-Gandhi party president. With Sonia back, the Congress lost a golden opportunity to shed the dynastic enterprise taint. Nearly every party leader described Sonia바카라�s ret­urn as the 바카라�best decision in the current circumstances바카라�. Among these leaders were Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor and Mumbai leader Milind Deora who had demanded that a 바카라�young, dynamic consensus-builder바카라� be chosen as Rahul바카라�s successor.

The stress on circumstances affirmed the sense of chaos that the party has been in since Rahul resigned taking res­ponsibility for the LS poll debacle바카라�when the party won just a few more seats than its 2014 tally of 44바카라�and amplified with the continuing exodus of leaders to the BJP and the fall of the Congress바카라�s coalition government in Karnataka. It also highlighted the Congress바카라�s incapacity to effect a transition from the old to the new and its failure to dismantle the hegemony of a coterie of old guard that has used its loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family to stay politically relevant.

At the morning session of the CWC meet, Rahul had stunned party veterans by asking for 바카라�wider consultations바카라� with state chiefs and legislature party leaders, MPs, and AICC secretaries by forming five region-wise sub-groups. 바카라�Since most PCC chiefs, CLP leaders and AICC secretaries were Rahul appointees, he must have thought that there would be a formidable push for a non-Gandhi president, in tune with his wishes, but such suggestions by many of us were scuttled,바카라� a PCC chief who was part of a sub-group tells Outlook. Seniors tasked with preparing reports of the consultations before the evening CWC session 바카라�insisted on resolutions endorsing Rahul바카라�s leadership and asking him to withdraw his resignation; something we couldn바카라�t say no to...After Rahul predictably declined, the old guard suddenly moved a resolution asking Sonia to take over as interim chief바카라�. The decision of the CWC to bring back Sonia with no clear timeframe on when she will call an AICC session to elect a full-time chief, thus, seemed pre-scripted바카라�if not at the behest of the Gandhis, then certainly through their sycophants.

In 2004, Sonia had scripted one of the biggest political comebacks when she pulled the Congress out of the brink with a surprise victory over the BJP-led government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But it바카라�s a new battle in a new India, with the Modi-Shah juggernaut rolling through the political landscape, and decimating all opposition. The confidence Sonia enj­oyed within her party, with leaders of UPA constituents and even the non-aligned Opposition parties like Mamata Banerjee바카라�s Trinamool Congress, Akhilesh Yadav바카라�s Samajwadi Party and Mayawati바카라�s Bahujan Samaj Party, has greatly diminished since the Lok Sabha results in which the Grand Old Party won an appalling 52 seats.

바카라�After the results came in, she had inv­ited leaders of all Opposition parties for a meeting to discuss ways of cornering the Modi government but leaders like Banerjee, Yadav and Mayawati did not even respond. During the Parliament session, she was let down by her own party men on key bills to amend the RTI, UAPA and NIA acts and the resolution to abrogate Article 370. Even Congress veterans like Dr Karan Singh and Janardhan Dwivedi broke ranks with her on the Kashmir issue,바카라� says a senior party MP.

Another challenge that Sonia faces is one that has 바카라�been created by decisions taken by Rahul during his 18-month presidential stint바카라�. A leader pointed out that ever since Rahul became the party president, Sonia largely allowed him to make all key appointments at the central and state levels. This was evident in Rahul바카라�s selection of most PCC presidents and the reconstitution of the CWC which saw an influx of younger leaders. 바카라�Rahul바카라�s decision to give his younger colleagues a greater say in party matters has naturally increased the ambitions of these leaders. While an electorally invincible BJP is act­ively poaching Congress leaders, our younger lot is being stifled within the party. They won바카라�t stay with us if the old guard reclaims its clout under Sonia,바카라� another Congress leader says.

A party general secretary tells Outlook that Sonia is expected to begin discussions on revamping the organisation and she will need to strike a balance between the egos of the old guard and the ambitions of young leaders. She will also need to convince her party, inc­luding Rahul, that the Congress can ill-aff­ord to give up its ideological commitment to secularism and the fight for the rights of religious minorities, Dalits and tribal communities바카라�the party바카라�s core constituency which was abandoned over the past two years as Rahul hopped from one temple to another flaunting his 바카라�Shiv bhakt, janeudhari바카라� credentials and reducing his party to a caricature of the BJP바카라�s hardline Hindutva.

The first test for Sonia isn바카라�t too far away. Three months from now, Haryana, Jhar­khand and Maharashtra are voting for new assemblies. The Congress is in utter disarray in these states with an additional challenge brewing in Haryana where former chief minister and Jat stalwart Bhupinder Singh Hooda is planning to launch his own party. In Maharashtra and Jharkhand, she will need to once again summon her old INS­tincts of stitching pre-poll alliances with NCP바카라�s Sharad Pawar and JMM바카라�s Shibu Soren respectively. Sonia has little time to set things right but can at least give a template for revival. It is unlikely that she will lead the poll campaign in these states, say sources, adding that Rahul will still be the main campaigner. If executed correctly, a revival plan charted by Sonia may prepare the ground for Rahul, or even daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, to consider taking over as Congress president once the matriarch바카라�s 바카라�interim바카라� stint draws to a close바카라�or at least create a better environment for genuine int­ra-party elections for choosing a non-Gandhi, minus the machinations of her old guard syndicate.