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| Jubilant JKPCC sees a steersman in Rahul | | 'Congress a sinking ship' | |
Neha
Jammu, Jan 24: Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC), like other Pradesh Congress Committees in other States which have been hailing the recognition of Rahul Gandhi by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) as number two leader in the party after AICC president and his mother Sonia Gandhi, believes that the elevation of the scion of Nehru-Gandhi family to the position of AICC vice-president will help the party across the country and that the Congress under his effective, inspiring and skillful leadership will capture power at the Centre in 2014 for the third time in a row. The general perception in the country is that the "Congress is a sinking ship" and there is no steersman in the party who can save it. Opposition parties, parties which are supporting the UPA Government from outside and part of it like the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and many keen Congress-watchers and commentators are all one as far as their assessment on the political future of the Congress party is concerned. They believe that Sonia Gandhi has "lost her charisma", that Rahul Gandhi's track record "doesn't inspire anyone even in the Congress party", that the Congress has no organizational machinery, that there is hardly any leader in the party with mass experience in any of the States, that there is "disconnect" between the party leadership and party workers and between the Congress leadership and the people, and that the Congress is nothing but "a conglomerate of sycophants, power-brokers and self-seekers".
Remember, it was on January 20 that the AICC at its Chintan Shivir elevated Rahul Gandhi to the post of vice-president, with more than 300 participants, including very senior Congress leaders and Ministers, including the Prime Minister, describing his elevation as a great political development in the country. They saw in him a steersman. Ever since then, the JKPCC and the Congress workers, especially members of the Youth Congress (YC) and the National Students Union of India (NSUI) have been celebrating the Rahul's elevation.
Will Rahul Gandhi, who hitherto served the party in his capacity as AICC general secretary for eight long years and who has been in the Parliament since May 2004, improve the party prospects in Jammu & Kashmir? One will have to wait for some more time to see what impact the elevation of Rahul Gandhi would actually have on the State unit of the Congress party, which is faction-ridden; which has no political agenda of its own; and which has practically thrown its lot with the National Conference (NC). At the same time, however, there is a view that Rahul Gandhi's elevation to the "number position" will have no impact whatsoever either on the State unit of the Congress or on the Congress party as a whole. They say that "Rahul Gandhi was already number two in the party" and that "it is not an office in the party that matters". What matters are the "leadership qualities", which Rahul lacks, they believe. They also say that Rahul Gandhi did not take off despite the fact that the party and the UPA Government were always at his back and call and that a couple of his interventions in the Lok Sabha during the nine long years did not indicate that "he had any vision". This point of view just cannot be ignored, as the critics' formulations appear quite sound.
As far as the JKPCC is concerned, which has to behave like it has been conducting itself since January 20 following the so-called elevation of Rahul Gandhi in the party hierarchy, it has to refashion its whole approach towards the NC and conduct itself in a manner that convinces the people of all the three regions that the Congress is a State-centric and nation-centric party and that it not only keeps a distance from the negative forces but also works for their defeat. But the problem is that the JKPCC would not do what it needs to do because Rahul Gandhi is a very close friend of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. And there is none in the JKPCC who has the courage to question the friendship between Rahul Gandhi and Omar Abdullah. |
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