In its efforts to ensure that >Rahul Gandhi will be on a firm footing when he takes over the reins of the party, the Congress is seriously considering postponing his elevation as president for at least another year till after the Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, due in April-May 2016.
This, top party sources told The Hindu , is because the Congress leadership does not want losses or reverses in these polls to mar Mr. Gandhi’s opening months in the top post.
The Congress had initially planned to move him to the top slot after last year’s general elections, but that was put off when the party put in its worst performance, winning just 44 Lok Sabha seats.
It had then thought of doing it at the end of 2015 when >Sonia Gandhi would complete her five-year term (and 18 years) as president. Initially, Mr. Gandhi’s unexpected two-month sabbatical earlier this year to undisclosed destinations had disconcerted the party. But after he returned and plunged into party work, the relief in the ranks led to talk of his being made president at the end of the ongoing organisational elections this year — after the Bihar Assembly elections.
But now, the murmurs have started once again: he is not yet ready to take over.
In the past 15 months since the BJP came to power, though the Modi government has suffered some reverses — the defeat in the Delhi Assembly polls and its failure to get through key economic reforms-related legislation — the Congress has not shown signs of making any recovery.
In Bihar, it is part of an alliance led by the Janata Dal (United)-Rashtriya Janata Dal combine, but it is the junior-most partner, and Mr. Gandhi’s protégés have not helped him by suggesting he did not attend a rally in Bihar attended by Ms. Gandhi as he had a problem sharing the stage with RJD chief Lalu Prasad.
As for the Assembly polls slated for mid-2016, things are not looking too good.
In Assam, where the Congress is in power, the scenario appears bleak. And not merely because the party will complete an unbroken 15 years in power next year, and with it have to bear the burden of the anti-incumbency factor. In recent days, the departure of senior leader Himanta Biswa Sharma and an ever-increasing line of Congress MLAs for the BJP has dealt a body blow to the party.
In Kerala, where the Congress–led United Democratic Front (UDF) is in power, the party is hoping that the corruption charges against its government will be offset by the inroads that the BJP is making into Left territory.
In Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and West Bengal, for the moment, the Congress is a non-starter.
It is against this backdrop that the >Congress leadership , encouraged by those who surround Ms. Gandhi, is wondering whether it does not make better sense to extend her tenure by another year.
