Rahul Is Cong VP, Set For ’14 Showdown With Modi

Rahul Is Cong VP, Set For ’14 Showdown With Modi

Finally Sheds Reluctance, Calms Sonia And Party

Subodh Ghildiyal TNN

Jaipur: The Congress on Saturday promoted Rahul Gandhi to the post of party vice-president, pitchforking him as the party’s candidate for the Prime Ministership in 2014, and virtually setting the stage for a presidential-style contest with Gujarat CM Narendra Modi.
    The decision ends the tense uncertainty in the Congress over whether Rahul was ready to assume the larger responsibility, relieving Sonia Gandhi and the party of the anxiety that they had to endure as he took his own time to decide; often giving conflicting signals. It may also mean an end to Manmohan Singh’s surprisingly long innings as Prime Minister and may act as an impetus to the saffron legions clamouring for the projection of Narendra Modi as their candidate for PMO.
    In his acceptance remark, Rahul told Congress Working Committee (CWC) members, some of whom were colleagues of his father Rajiv and grandmother Indira: “I have travelled the country widely in the last eight years and I believe we can transform the country.”
    Defence minister A K Antony moved the proposal at a CWC meet on the second day of the chintan shivir, saying it represented the sentiment of party workers. Sonia and Rahul indicated their agreement. Manmohan Singh then hugged him while some other members offered garlands.
THE BIG PLUNGE
Rahul Gandhi has finally taken the step for which everyone was waiting. As No. 2 in the Congress, he has been, for all practical purposes, pitched as the prime ministerial candidate of the party in the next polls. A SWOT analysis of the young leader
STRENGTHS Is young, has no taint despite Cong being in power for 2 terms Is sincere, gritty and focused. Has ability to get involved with the nitty-gritty as was seen in his conducting Cong organizational polls Likes challenges. Even when Cong’s chances were slim in UP, he didn’t shy away from the fight; rather took on the odds head on Is the mascot of Gandhi family – always an advantage in India
WEAKNESSES Appears a reluctant leader. The fact that it took him so long to give his nod might be seen as a sign of diffidence It is still uncertain if he’s a winning option. After the 2009 elections, he hasn’t notched any big victory for the party Isn’t a great orator but has improved a lot in recent months
OPPORTUNITIES Opposition is in disarray. The main opposition, BJP, appears fragmented and regional outfits are divided along ‘secular-communal’ fault lines
There are signs of the economy bottoming out. While the US economy is reviving, the signal of reforms has got the markets all excited
If he plays his cards right, can connect with country’s restless youth
THREATS May be pitted in the polls against Modi, an energetic campaigner with a strong pull among sections
Will bear the brunt of a two-term incumbency against UPA and Cong
Spell of insulation from govt’s bad moves will now go. Will get kudos for right decisions but take flak for blunders
Another eruption like Nirbhaya could become a big handicap in the run-up to the polls Cong looks at Rahul as ultimate weapon
Jaipur: The legup for Gandhi scion, as indicated in TOI on January 18, in hierarchy marks only another generational change in the Congress’s history, fourth from the Gandhi family after Indira, Rajiv and Sonia.
    Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said no decision had been taken on giving Rahul the command of Lok Sabha polls. However, while Sonia will continue to be the party chief, Rahul’s promotion, for all practical purposes, marks a change of baton and may quicken the arrival of a new team in the AICC. That Sonia decided to keep herself aloof; at least formally so, may only accelerate the transition.
    The deliberations at the chintan shivir clearly reflected the conclusion that Rahul is the only weapon the party is left with in a political season where it, handicapped as it is by incumbency, is having to contend with discontent triggered by inflation and general sense of economic decline as well as corruption, and fuelled by social media and an assertive civil society.
    Rahul had so far resisted the formal No. 2 tag to the point of exasperating party leaders and triggering speculation about the possible reasons for the reluctance to step up to the plate. His elevation looked imminent when he was asked along with three other leaders to look after party affairs when Sonia had to go abroad for medical reasons. But the expectation that he was ready to take the helm was belied, with the party’s debacle in UP last year on his charge only contributing to his hesitation.
    However, Rahul’s response this time to a determined persuasion effort had assured party leaders that he was ready to take up the gauntlet. In any case, the anticipation, reported by TOI on January 19, reached a crescendo, eclipsing every discussion on socio-economic, political and organizational challenges for which the chintan shiver was supposedly called.
    The Congress chief had on Friday made it clear that youth and the urban middle class were the party’s priorities for 2014: a reflection of the worry that the urban constituencies and the middle classes who were crucial to Congress’s back-to-back Lok Sabha wins, particularly the one in 2009, had drifted away.
    Rahul’s remark ,expressing confidence that the country could be transformed, appeared to be aimed at the same constituency: referred to as aspirational India, which is disillusioned by the non-fulfillment of the promise held out by the UPA. The assertive tone, coming from someone who had appeared so reluctant to immerse himself in party affairs, did not escape his audience.
    The new role for Rahul is also likely to be the spur for the BJP to end its ambivalence over what to do with Narendra Modi. Although the BJP leadership has come around to give a second term to Nitin Gadkari, there is recognition in the party that it cannot allow even an perception of a Rahul-Gadkari matchup: a concern which will have repercussions both for the NDA and the possibility of the UPA getting new allies.