Congress Party's delay in selecting and appointing new party
President in place of Rahul Gandhi has opened the floodgates of jockeying and
manipulation. Even as the delay is causing mass desertions in certain states,
the party is unable to put its acts together. Despite, energetic and creative party spokesman Randeep Singh
Surjewala's assertion that Rahul 'is and will remain' party president, not
everyone is convinced about the feasibility of Surjewala's position in view of
repeated assertion by Rahul that he owns up the party's 2019 national electoral
debacle and the party must find his replacement. As the uncertainty about who may lead the party shows no sign
of being resolved in the immediate future, party circles have shifted focus on
speculation about who may lead it in the Lok Sabha. With Kerala giving the
party 15 seats, names of senior parliamentarians from there are doing the
rounds. Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor is said to be a frontrunner. But
he has a strong competitor in Suresh Kodikunnil. North Indian leaders seem to
have been making a case for Manish Tiwari on the ground that he is good at both
Hindi and English, and thus eminently qualifies for the post. The name of Adhir
Ranjan Chowdhury is also in the reckoning. Not accidentally, both Suresh and
Chowdhury participated in the all-party meeting called by the government on the
eve of Lok Sabha session. This uncertain state of affairs in the grand old party has
opened up a window of opportunity for certain leaders to manipulate a position
of influence for themselves. One such leader is MP CM Kamal Nath who may seem
to be still nursing the feeling of hurt on Rahul's statement that some leaders
worked more for their sons' successes than for the party. A while after that
statement, Nath, along with his elected MP son Nakul called on PM Naren Modi
setting the tongues rolling in the party. On the eve of the fifth meeting of the Governing Council of
NITI Aayog last week, Nath held a dinner meeting with CMs of other
Congress-ruled states. The move has sent off many signals. The one which is obvious
may have been to coordinate the Congress’s stance at the scheduled Aayog
meeting. The deeper one may be coordinated assertion of freedom since there is
no one at the AICC who can advise them in the absence of Rahul who is away on a
foreign tour. Personally, Nath may also be jockeying for a yet non-existent
position of powerful coordinator of party’s five chief ministers. Of course,
this may be challenged by both Ashok Gehlot and Amarinder Singh who have been
CMs multiple times.
Amid all the power games, former PM Dr. Manmohan
Singh remains the dark horse. Although his Rajya Sabha term ended last week, it
may be renewed if the party high command wishes. No one could rule him out with
certainty about a key position that he may soon come to hold.
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Congress: Focus shifts to Lok Sabha leader post
By IndianMandarins - 2019-06-19 13:16:03
Congress Party's delay in selecting and appointing new party
President in place of Rahul Gandhi has opened the floodgates of jockeying and
manipulation. Even as the delay is causing mass desertions in certain states,
the party is unable to put its acts together.
Despite, energetic and creative party spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala's assertion that Rahul 'is and will remain' party president, not everyone is convinced about the feasibility of Surjewala's position in view of repeated assertion by Rahul that he owns up the party's 2019 national electoral debacle and the party must find his replacement.
As the uncertainty about who may lead the party shows no sign of being resolved in the immediate future, party circles have shifted focus on speculation about who may lead it in the Lok Sabha. With Kerala giving the party 15 seats, names of senior parliamentarians from there are doing the rounds. Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor is said to be a frontrunner. But he has a strong competitor in Suresh Kodikunnil. North Indian leaders seem to have been making a case for Manish Tiwari on the ground that he is good at both Hindi and English, and thus eminently qualifies for the post. The name of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is also in the reckoning. Not accidentally, both Suresh and Chowdhury participated in the all-party meeting called by the government on the eve of Lok Sabha session.
This uncertain state of affairs in the grand old party has opened up a window of opportunity for certain leaders to manipulate a position of influence for themselves. One such leader is MP CM Kamal Nath who may seem to be still nursing the feeling of hurt on Rahul's statement that some leaders worked more for their sons' successes than for the party. A while after that statement, Nath, along with his elected MP son Nakul called on PM Naren Modi setting the tongues rolling in the party.
On the eve of the fifth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog last week, Nath held a dinner meeting with CMs of other Congress-ruled states. The move has sent off many signals. The one which is obvious may have been to coordinate the Congress’s stance at the scheduled Aayog meeting. The deeper one may be coordinated assertion of freedom since there is no one at the AICC who can advise them in the absence of Rahul who is away on a foreign tour. Personally, Nath may also be jockeying for a yet non-existent position of powerful coordinator of party’s five chief ministers. Of course, this may be challenged by both Ashok Gehlot and Amarinder Singh who have been CMs multiple times.
Amid all the power games, former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh remains the dark horse. Although his Rajya Sabha term ended last week, it may be renewed if the party high command wishes. No one could rule him out with certainty about a key position that he may soon come to hold.
