Congress: Focus on Gen Next

Finally, the century-old party seems to realise the need to empower the younger generation in the states

With overhaul done in half a dozen states including Punjab, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Kerala, Maharashtra and Assam, Congress has signalled its forward march towards generation next. Be it the appointment of Navjot Singh Sidhu as PCC chief in Punjab, Revanth Reddy in Telangana, K Sudhakaran or Nana Patole in Maharashtra as Congress chiefs in their respective states, the Congress high command, which has for long faced criticism for procrastination in decision-making, has of late shown its willingness to go beyond the obvious and explore new leadership in states even at the cost ignoring voices from its trusted veterans of past to some extent.

Last year, even when the party’s most influential leader after the Gandhis - Ahmed Patel - was alive, the Congress appointed young Patidar leader Hardik Patel as Congress Working President of Gujarat unit, ignoring objections from strong entrenched regional leaders in the state where earlier nothing moved without the permission of Patel. The only exception was the reinstatement of Harish Rawat as campaign committee chairman (read CM face) of Uttarakhand and his close aide Ganesh Godiyal as PCC president as the party felt Rawat is the tallest leader in the state and could be a good challenger against BJP’s relatively greenhorn in politics, the young Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami from the same Thakur community.

The party also appointed Bhupen Bora, stated close to Rahul Gandhi, as Assam Congress chief. The trend is all set to reflect in Rajasthan and Goa. While AICC in-charge for Rajasthan Ajay Maken and general secretary K C Venugopal have held back to back meetings with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, Rahul Gandhi last week held one to one meeting with all senior leaders of Goa including its chief Girish Chodankar, who is likely to be replaced. Most of the leaders appointed in the key posts in these states in the last one year are close to Rahul Gandhi. And all this come before the much- anticipated decision on the next president of Congress for which the process will be set in motion with a meeting of the Congress Working Committee soon after the end of Monsoon session of Parliament mid-August. In all probability, the main Opposition party will have a new team by the end of the year.

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The Gandhis are unmistakably back in action after a lull of sort after Rahul Gandhi resigned in May 2019 post the Lok Sabha poll debacle, fuming at some seniors for focussing more on political future of their kin than Congress and insisting that the party should now have a non-Gandhi helming its affairs.

Whether Rahul agrees to take up party chief post again or not this time, all the organisational decisions in the last one year have his stamp and some also the influence of Priyanka including the recent resolution of the Punjab crisis. Before that Rahul, Sonia and Priyanka had a long meeting in July with poll strategist Prashant Kishor, where the 2024 strategy for Congress was discussed and a possible internal role for Kishor. All indications are that Kishor, who is stated close to Priyanka, will be given a role in the party, possibly as in-charge for a new department called election strategy.

With Opposition unity the war cry in Congress, Sonia and Rahul hosted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while Rahul after a separate meeting with leaders of 14 Opposition parties in Parliament, hailed the “experience, wisdom and insight in everyone present”. West Bengal could see a replacement of PCC chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is a known Mamata baiter, at a time Congress sees in her a potential rallying point for Opposition unity and is looking forward to work with her in the larger anti-BJP plan for 2024. In Odisha, party state chief Niranjan Patnaik (73) is likely to be replaced by a younger face amid growing concern in the party about its near decimation in the state and the rise of the BJP even in the Opposition space.

“After two years of back and forth, it is now clear to both - the party at large and the Gandhis - that Rahul Gandhi is the leader of the party whether he does so by agreeing to become party chief or in some other role. Otherwise, why should the state leaders be coming to meet him. The focus right now is to strengthen the states, as the road to power for Congress will be visible from the state polls. You should look at the new appointments in these states that way,” a party functionary told DH.

Growing realisation

There is a growing realisation in the party the sole dependence on the old guard will render the party in disarray in the long run as in Assam and Himachal where party veterans Tarun Gogoi and Virbhadra Singh kept the party in their iron grip and after their demise, the party is gasping for breath. The leadership is not averse to lateral entry or giving big roles to imports from other parties to shore up its talent pool in the states. The 53-year-old Reddy, a Lok Sabha MP, was made Telangana state chief even as he had joined the Congress only three years ago in 2017. Reddy, before joining Congress had stints with TDP, TRS and BJP’s Youth wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Sidhu had also joined Congress in 2017 after a stint with BJP. Nana Patole (58) moved from Congress to BJP and then back to Congress.

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With anti-incumbency against Captain Amarinder Singh before polls turning an eyesore and the Chief Minister nearing 80, the party had to look for a future leader, a fresh youthful face to have appeal among youth and age on his side for a long tenure. Sidhu fits into that. Gujarat, where the party is rudderless with its AICC general secretary in-charge for the state Rajiv Satav’s death and its PCC chief and CLP leaders having resigned after debacle in local bodies polls, is the destination next. Sachin Pilot could be made the AICC in-charge for the state. AICC in-charge for West Bengal Jitin Prasad joined the BJP and the role will now go to another Team Rahul member.

In states where Congress has brought in new state chiefs, it has adopted a formula of appointing three to four working presidents, which is in sync with Rahul Gandhi’s pitch for creating “not one but four five strong leaders in every state.” While these changes in the states are underway, the party is also moving towards putting its house in order at the centre, seeking to strike a balance between the old guard and the younger crop. Some powerful regional leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge, Ramesh Chennithala and TS Singhdeo can be given key organisational roles.

Former Madhya Pradesh CM and nine-term MP Kamal Nath’s growing influence in the party and gradually getting into the role of Ahmed Patel is the new talk in party circles. Sonia Gandhi recently brought in G-23 members Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor in the group for Lok Sabha strategy ahead of the Monsoon session. Tharoor and another G-23 member Anand Sharma have also been told they will continue to head the AICC departments of foreign affairs and `Professional Congress’, respectively. Sonia is also warm to Gehlot and Hooda in Rajasthan and Haryana, who have the potential to make or mar the party prospects there.

Way back in 2014, party’s media and organisation head Janardan Dwivedi, had suggested that 65 or 70 should be the age for people to go out of active posts and take up other roles which do not require a lot of running around and physical capacity. The upcoming reshuffle in the party is likely to continue this trend of bringing more of the young blood even as the leadership will be conscious not to burn bridges with the veterans.