The news that all important decisions in the Congress Party at the national level are being held at Rahul Gandhi’s residence despite Sonia Gandhi wearing the mantle of the AICC President, a post for which elections are never held is troubling. The group of 23 senior Congressmen/women who had written to the Party for a rejuvenation plan and for elections right from the primary units to the topmost level – the AICC – to be held are out in the cold. Clearly the Nehru-Gandhi family is unwilling to let go of power and to resuscitate the Party which is today suffering from severe attrition, with members leaving it in frustration to join the BJP or TMC. This shows that Rahul and Sonia Gandhi only prefer to make intermittent noises against the BJP and Modi personally but are not ready to put their own house in order.
To say that senior leaders like Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Manish Tewari, Jairam Ramesh amongst others who have remained loyal followers of the Congress ideology, are today in despair is an understatement. They continue to hang on to the Congress because of their sharp ideological differences with the BJP. But some of the young Turks like Jyotiraditya Scindia have left because they feel that remaining in a moribund opposition is meaningless. They feel that the people they serve need development and being in the ruling party makes that easier. In time, perhaps Sachin Pilot and those of his generation too might leave when they see no real leadership emerging and them having to be apologists for the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
Leaders like Himanta Biswa Sarma who have left the Congress and switched loyalties to the BJP have succeeded in concentrating on development rather than waste time in appeasing the Nehru-Gandhi family. It’s a debilitating situation to be in. Breaking out of that situation has proved, in the case of Himanta Biswa Sarma that he is now rewarded by the BJP central leadership because he is able to deliver the public goods. Guwahati is now a transformed city because the Chief Minister spends his time following up on projects and has created a system of accountability among ministers. In Meghalaya, the Congress has just been re-energised by the appointment of Vincent Pala the 3-time Lok Sabha MP, as the MPCC President. Pala is known to amiably carry people along. But with the AICC unwilling to be oxygenated it remains to be seen how far the Meghalaya Congress can travel. A time has come for the members of the Meghalaya Congress to assert themselves and tell the AICC leadership what it needs to hear.
