Waiting for Rahul

November 09, 2016 01:48 am | Updated December 04, 2021 11:05 pm IST

With Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, it is difficult to say who needs the other more. Indeed, it is not clear whether the party is shielding him from the risk of electoral failure or whether it is looking to him for political leadership and guidance. In any case the seemingly never-ending wait for his ascension as the president of the party was not doing either him or the Congress any good. If the decision of the Congress Working Committee to ask Mr. Gandhi to take up the top post was a surprise, it was only in its timing. Ever since the Lok Sabha election of 2014, Mr. Gandhi was being prepared for this very job; also, his mother and Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, had not been keeping good health. But two factors stood in the way. Members of the party’s old guard were unsure of his leadership skills, or were apprehensive of being left out if the order changed. More important, Mr. Gandhi himself wanted time. He wanted to make sure he did not appear to be hankering after power and position, and he did not get blamed for electoral defeats that were, by any reckoning, inevitable. But just as the seniors in the party reconciled themselves to the changing times, Mr. Gandhi too seems to have become more responsive to the requirements of an organisation such as the Congress: that he would have to deal with the party as it is, and that he would not be able to readily mould it to the form he would like it to take.

Quite possibly, Mr. Gandhi would not have had a shot at becoming the party president were it not for his lineage. But the nature of the faction-ridden Congress is such that it needs a leader whose right to lead is not questioned at every step. Mr. Gandhi meets this requirement. While the fractious nature of the party grants him greater legitimacy as a leader, it also makes his task more difficult. At the CWC meeting, he expressed his willingness to take on the assigned role of party president to “fight for the preservation of the idea of India”. This is a phrase that the Congress believes captures its engagement with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Congress does have its place in India’s political landscape, but it cannot afford to define itself solely as the antithesis of the BJP. Mr. Gandhi will have to take the plunge wholeheartedly, with a readiness to carry on the struggle for political change and economic development over the long term. He will have to be ready to get his hands dirty in the every- day politics of bringing about positive change, incremental or otherwise, whenever and wherever possible. There are no shortcuts. Taking blame and sharing credit are synonymous with assuming responsibility.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.