Rahul Gandhi has a tough job in keeping both his CMs and his peers harmonised till 2019
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi may scream “united colours of Rajasthan” and claim the diversity of experience and youth, maturity and raw energy as an ideal detente of governance but will it rid the Congress’ age-old malaise of infighting and undercutting? That’s a question he has to answer as his young Turks are getting increasingly restless for relevance. Otherwise he may run the risk of being labelled an inheritor of dynastic fortunes seeking pliant courtiers rather than as a team-builder of equally aspirant and capable men and women. Yes, a decisive mandate would have undoubtedly helped him but given the slim margins of victory in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, he had to do some bridge-building in consultation with his mother Sonia Gandhi. Truth be told, though he has handed over the throne to old loyalists, he will have to work out a suitable operable area for both Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia to feel needed and keep them invested enough for all the work they have put in towards resurgence of the party’s fortunes. Scindia has even said that he will continue to serve the state as he has age and time on his side but both Gandhi and he know that prospect won’t hold infinitely. Satisfying both peers frankly will be a tall order given that their activities should not in any way tread the egos of the senior Chief Ministers. Or else the inter-generational tussle could cost the party heavily before the 2019 polls, both in terms of governance and perception.
The new Congress Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, has always been assessed in terms of his elitist associations and negotiating strategic worth with the central leadership so far. Having steered the party through difficult troughs before, he did manage to push the baseline voter grid in the state this time too and had bet big on stitching alliances with the BSP even before the verdict became sure. In fact, his younger partner Scindia was more cautious as Nath worked the ground and negotiated a way for himself through swift political management. But as one who has undoubtedly nurtured his home ground of Chhindwara, even touting his model of development there better than Modi’s, he is yet to develop a pan-state appeal. In this respect, he falls far short of his predecessor Digvijay Singh, who had a keen eye on statistics of each district and knew people by name, and even BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who was a crowd favourite for 15 years. Scindia scores slightly better on image. Nath’s biggest challenge now will be portfolio allocation, humoring the Scindia group enough and breaking through angry farmers who turned the tide.
For Rajasthan, Gandhi was under pincer attack with Pilot actually moving to the state from Delhi to develop the Congress vote base and Gehlot becoming one of the key floor managers in keeping the RSS and its affiliates at bay. And when all hope was lost, the latter did manage to script the Congress revival story in the Gujarat elections and is now party national general secretary in-charge of organisation. Besides, vote share charts show the BJP still remains a force to reckon with both inside the Assembly and outside. Managing legislative business, therefore, remains a task at hand for both governments. Which is why the old guard is needed to keep up the momentum for 2019. Gandhi can still toss the national challenge of rebuilding to these young leaders and can reward them if they do deliver selflessly at the hustings for long-term gains than claim a prize for a one-time job well-done. Can everybody put party first?
