The Congress said on Monday that there was consensus in the party on the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, but stopped short of declaring whether he would be announced as the prime ministerial candidate at the one-day All India Congress Committee session slated for January 17.
If party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi dismissed as “illogical” questions on whether the AICC session had been called to anoint Mr. Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, emerging from a Congress Core Group meeting on Monday, dodged a question on whether he would be made the party’s candidate for the top post on January 17.
But even as Mr. Dwivedi made this statement, the pressure on the leadership to declare Mr. Gandhi’s name as the party’s face began. At the official briefing on Monday, Congress spokesperson Priya Dutt said, “The entire Congress, not just the youngsters in the Congress, is looking forward to the session. If there is an announcement on the prime ministerial candidate, we all will be very happy. We would wish to see Rahul Gandhiji projected. His leadership has the consensus in the party.”
Ms. Dutt was answering a question on whether young Congress leaders wanted Mr. Gandhi’s name to be announced and whether he should take over as prime minister before the elections.
But when asked whether Mr. Gandhi was “the remedy” to the Congress’ problems, Ms. Dutt said: “We are not looking at anything as a remedy. The Congress has never projected anybody as a chief ministerial candidate or a prime ministerial candidate but today we feel — and I think everyone here agrees — that people are looking for a face.” Besides, “There has not been an aggressive projection, but there has been a subtle projection [of Mr. Gandhi] from the beginning,” she said, while emphasising that the young Congress vice-president had focussed on transforming the organisation and “never desired to become the Prime Minister”.
To a question on how Mr. Gandhi – who had played a key role in campaigning and strategy for the recent Assembly polls – could be named the prime ministerial candidate after the disastrous performance of the Congress, party spokesperson Bhaktacharan Das said: “I don’t think you can fix the blame on one person.”
A party general secretary told The Hindu that while there was no doubt that Mr. Gandhi was the party’s top choice for the post, it was unlikely that there would be such an announcement at the AICC session.
“An AICC session is always held before any general election to assess the political situation and chart the way forward,” he said, adding, “There will be the usual resolutions on political, economic, foreign policy issues whose drafts will be made by the Congress Working Committee.”
Mr. Das also pointed out that to announce Mr. Gandhi’s name at the AICC session would undermine Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s position for the rest of his tenure, and that it was more likely that if such an announcement is made, it will be made only after the declaration of the dates for the general elections.
