news details |
|
|
| Rahul Gandhi as ‘heir-apparent’ to Sonia? | | NEWS ANALYSIS | |
B L KAK
NEW DELHI: Spotlights are on Rahul Gandhi. He, like his mother Sonia Gandhi, is in the news, with even senior Congress leaders of late desperately trying to get closer to him. And he will continue to be in the news.
Reason: Majority of Congressmen want their party to anoint him as “heir-apparent” to Sonia Gandhi. More importantly, having been convinced by the fact that none in the Congress organization has courage to sit up and question or challenge the process set in motion to glorify Rahul Gandhi, the average Congress worker is left with little choice except of course to shower praises on Sonia’s son as well as daughter, Priyanka. No wonder Congress leaders are these days found falling over each other whenever Rahul Gandhi appears on the scene, either in Parliament lobbies, or Central Hall or party-related get-togethers.
True, Rahul Gandhi has still to mature in politics. But he cannot be prevented from voicing his party’s views and woes against ‘injustices’ or ‘bad governance’ in certain states, particularly Uttar Pradesh (UP). If Rahul has, on more than one occasion in recent weeks, spoken against the role and performance of the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in UP, he was not to blame, considering the fact that he was voicing the Congress high command’s “displeasure” at the choice of operations employed by the present UP government.
Mulayam Yadav’s Man Friday, Amar Singh, who is Samajwadi Party’s general secretary, did pass a comment or two against Rahul Gandhi. But Mulayam Yadav himself decided not to join issue with the Congress for the moment. Mulayam Yadav would not like the Congress party to make its presence felt in UP. No wonder, he has also decided to concentrate on the State while continuing to extend the support to the Congress-led coalition government at the Centre.
Samajwadi Party strategists and supporters do not foresee a formidable challenge from the Congress party. Their argument: Congress has emerged with just nine seats in the Lok Sabha from UP. This alone should be sufficient proof that the Congress party needs to go a long way in UP before it can declare itself as fighting fit insofar as electoral battles are concerned.
At the same time, Mulayam Singh Yadav and his partymen cannot escape the fact that he also will have to make clear-cut choices in the not too distant future, as the Congress party is not prepared to rest on its laurels and will definitely make a bid to revive itself in UP. Election 2004 made it clear that the Congress party peaked in some States. It bagged 58 of the 72 seats these States offer.
However, as things cannot be static, it will be a miracle if the Congress can retain its own tally in Andhra Pradesh (29), Assam (9), Haryana (9), Delhi (6), Himachal Pradesh (3), Chandigarh (1) and Andaman(1). The NDA is out of power. But it is not down. The Congress will have to fight the NDA one-to-one in the NDA territory in India. NDA’s territory constitutes Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Orisa, Punjab, Chattisgarh, Utaranchal, Goa,Lakshadeep, Dadar Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu.
There is a growing feeling among close associates of Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, that the party will have to emerge as a powerful centrist force. Once it happens, the possibility of the Congress party attracting masses cannot be ruled out. An icon will have to emerge on the scene to bring about this phenomenon in favour of the Congress. Rahul Gandhi, his supporters insist, can play that role. It is not without significance that some strategists of the Congress party favour efforts to project Rahul Gandhi as the Chief Minister, who, according to them, can liberate UP from the Mulayam-Mayawati-BJP cauldron of “hate politics, mis-governance, violent lawlessness”.
===================
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
