The race has got to a flying start. While its outcome is known, Shashi Tharoor has brought the much-needed zest to the Congress presidential polls, and unlikely any surprise is in store for the veteran Mallikarjun Kharge. Critics and faithful alike are hailing the candidature of 66-year-old Tharoor. The prospect of a contest for the party's presidential election has come as a breath of fresh air.
Tharoor has started in earnest. His launching the campaign from Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur, where Dr B R Ambedkar embraced Buddhism, is to drive home the need for a renewed fight to protect and preserve the Constitution, which has been under assault since the Narendra Modi dispensation took over in May 2014. It is also to show that the politics followed by the Sangh Parivar and its followers would lead the country to the path of doom.
Even if its outcome is predictable, the Kharge versus Tharoor contest promises to be exhilarating, thanks mainly to the former UN civil servant who has turned it into a colourful affair in every way. While underlining the idea of India, Tharoor is showcasing how he is a modernist attempting to bring back focus on the Congress as a middle-of-the-road organisation averse to all extremes and committed to tolerance and consensus. Jawaharlal Nehru is Tharoor's idol.
The fact is that Tharoor, if given a chance, could be an antidote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the politics of polarisation practised by him and the BJP since coming to power in May 2014. Tharoor, who headed the Professionals Congress, brings much to the Congress table. He is the prominent party leader who is listened to with interest by the youth and the middle class so enamoured of the BJP these days. He recently authored a book titled, Why I am a Hindu.
At the same time, it is equally clear that Tharoor is not a dyed-in-the-wool man of the organisation like 80-year-old Kharge Tharoor has been an MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala since 2009. Kharge was the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha till last week.
The importance of Tharoor's challenge
Tharoor's candidacy is important because it shows signs of the grand old party slowly becoming vibrant after several electoral setbacks, including debacles in two successive Lok Sabha elections. The leadership depth of the Congress notwithstanding, its critics point to the "stranglehold" of the first family over the organisation.
Also Read | Congress's new diktat to office bearers on campaigning for party president poll candidate
Two contrasting pictures are worth noticing: Sonia Gandhi says that everyone, including Tharoor, wishing to contest the elections to the post of the party president is welcome to do so. In contrast, the BJP recently removed Nitin Gadkari, one of its better performing ministers, from its parliamentary board, its highest decision-making body. Gadkari's fault was his growing stature because of his work, which seems to have made the 'strong leader' insecure.
Tharoor has all the qualities of being the next Manmohan Singh. Like the former PM, he is a known public intellectual and could be the next face of the party to take on Narendra Modi in May 2024. He might not be a loyalist of the first family of the Congress, but he is not an opponent either. Tharoor understands the importance and relevance of the first family, which was also instrumental in giving him the opportunity of public service. It is time the Gandhis allowed new experiments in the Congress.
That leaders from the so-called G23, the group of reformers/dissidents in the Congress, have plumped for Kharge and not Tharoor tells its own story. The development is ironic since Tharoor was originally part of the group advocating streamlining the party's functioning and the need for collective leadership. The issues that Tharoor has flagged need to be heeded, including his disapproval of 'one line resolutions' by state legislative parties, thereby authorising the high command to choose their leaders. It sets him apart from the loyalists. But he has never been seen as an anti-Gandhi family leader either.
The Kharge versus Tharoor tussle has belied doomsday predictions for the Congress. So far, It looked as if there was no rainbow at the end of the tunnel. Nomination culture has harmed the grand old party much, making it dull and weak, complacent and colourless and clueless too.
However, green shoots are springing up. Those who had declared their unequivocal resolve to achieve a 'Congress mukt Bharat' are forced to sit up and think by the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the polls in the grand old party.
Whether the Congress succeeds, we shall soon know. But the time has come for the Congress to play a new game.
(The writers are senior journalists)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.