Congress President Rahul Gandhi is adamant about stepping down from the Party leadership following the recent poll debacle. It is ironic that the Congress rank and file continue to resist leadership change. Dynasty has become a comfort zone for the thousands of Congress party workers who fear that a change of leadership at the top would lead to a deeper crisis than the Congress finds itself in now. But would that happen or is this an opportunity for the Party to be given new direction and leadership goals by Congress men and women who understand grassroots politics. Too many senior leaders in the Congress who call themselves strategists have never fought a popular election and therefore are unaware of the changing contours of the political landscape and the aspirations of people. Besides, the Congress does not have or encourage a talk-back mechanism where those at the primary units can talk directly to the Party President and inform him of the goings-on which are inimical to the growth of the Party.
Rahul Gandhi following the leadership principle has taken the blame on himself for the recent poor performance of the Party. In short he has pulled in his thumb instead of pointing his fingers at others, although the Nehru-Gandhi scion did point to the fact that senior Congress leaders were busy promoting the political careers of their kith and kin.
When Rahul Gandhi’s memoirs will be written he will be remembered as a good man who lacked the cutting edge leadership skills. This is largely because of Rahul’s own protected life which in a sense is an abnormal life. His ability to sense the plight of India’s poor is restricted to what the local satraps wish him to experience. He cannot set out on his own like other grass-roots leaders do. Hence even though he breathes sincerity, he lacks the emotional connect with ordinary people. Also he can never identify himself with the poor because he is not one of them. This is what his beta-noire Modi does best. These are a few of Rahul Gandhi’s handicaps.
Closer home too there are rumblings about the need for change in the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leadership after Mukul Sangma failed to win the Lok Sabha elections and also after the Party had to conceded the Selsella seat to the NPP. In any battle, the losing side has to do a soul searching. The Meghalaya Congress is yet to do that. On the contrary we see an impatience to bring down the MDA Government and to woo a section of MLAs to form a Congress-led Government. This is not only opportunistic but it also exposes an insidious need to be in power at any cost; not because Congress MLAs wish to serve the people for they can still do so as MLAs but because they feel the loss of power and pelf. This is unlikely to win much favour for the Party and is also one reason why the Congress is losing steam.