Chintan Shivir Or Rahul's Coronation?

When Congress was in trouble after the disastrous tenure of Sitaram Kesri, the party faithful went to the Gandhi family for help instead of electing a good and a capable leader. They knew that for the entire party, the Gandhi family is like catnip and will fix their problems quickly. For Sonia Gandhi it was a chance to increase her family fortunes and ensure her son’s “rightful” place in the Indian politics. As most quick fixes are, it worked and the party was resuscitated. That combined with a disastrous “India Shining” campaign by Advani/Mahajan and the rest of the BJP brought the Congress to power. Sonia decided to rule by proxy and clever machinations by her chamchas made her look like a martyr who sacrificed her ambitions for the good of the nation. The entire nation fell for that trick hook, line and sinker. A combination of BJP’s ineptness, Manmohan Singh / Sonia Gandhi’s ’s carefully crafted image; the divided Indian voter gave Congress the keys to the throne once again despite no achievements. Now Congress, which is trouble again for extreme incompetence and corruption is looking to the Gandhi family again. The recent Chintan Shivir was actually a coronation for the Rajkumar. The Party faithful are thinking that for the 2014 campaign, they will need their biggest weapon and that is Rahul Gandhi. At least this is what the Sonia inner circle will have us believe.

We have written many times on this topic and it is clear to all but the blind that the image of Rahul Gandhi as a youth leader with a mass appeal is completely false. He is not even young anymore. The two Indian American leaders in the US, Bobby Jindal and Nikki Randhawa Haley are younger than Rahul and have won elections in states which are historically hostile to non whites. We are also aware of Rahul’s record as a grassroots level campaigner. Under him, the Congress has badly lost every state election. He has been termed as un-teachable by senior Congressmen. The most recent example of a total lack of political sense was evident when a youth movement in protest against the brutal rape was on and the Rajkumar was vacationing in Europe. Instead of firming up his status as a youth leader and leading the youth, he was absent leaving the unenviable task to other bumbling Congressmen. We have not heard from him on the recent beheading of an Indian soldier. And yet here he is, promoted to the PM wannabe. It is dynastic politics at its shamelessly best.

However, I am glad that he is now the leader of Congress. Clearly, he got pushed into this corner by political forces where he does not have the deniability. It is his race to win or lose. It is time to live up to the hype or disappear for good. It is time for him to live up to the bloated expectations of the Congress worker or shatter their hopes. Yes. The bluff has been called. Perform or perish.

I think this is good for Congress. Whether the BJP/RSS will let Modi become the PM or not, we know one thing for sure. The Congress will flop under Rahul’s leadership because as the main leader, the Sonia inner circle will not be able to control his appearances and speeches. The sooner the Congressmen realize Rahul’s ineptitude the sooner they can start to wean themselves away from the Gandhi family. That is better for them and the nation. We do need Congress as a responsible party but that is not possible with the current crop of leaders. The current party structure needs to be destroyed so that the Congress can be reconstructed as a viable national option. Ultimately, we WILL need two major parties for a functional democracy. The status quo with multiple regional parties has proven to be a complete disaster.

Yes. I am happy that Rahul has become the Congress’ top man.