He is likely to appoint 15-odd new party secretaries, a majority of them from among young MPs
If the recent reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers saw only a marginal imprint of the Congress’ yuvraj, the impending changes in the party organisation — likely before Diwali, if not earlier — will see Rahul Gandhi play a greater role. Not only will Mr. Gandhi’s number two status be institutionalised by re-designating him as secretary general, vice-president — or some such title — as he is brought into mainline decision-making, he is also likely to appoint as many as 15-odd new party secretaries, a majority of them from among young MPs.
Indeed, it is among the party secretaries that the generational change is likely to be most visible: currently, of the 35 party secretaries, six are believed to have been his choices — Ashok Tanwar, Jitendra Singh, Meenakshi Natarjan, Priya Dutt (all MPs), Manish Chatrath and Shanimol Osman. Of these, Mr. Singh, Ms. Natarajan and Ms. Osman are currently attached to Mr. Gandhi’s office as secretaries.
Mr. Singh has already been rewarded: in the recent ministerial changes, he was moved up from MoS to independent charge of Youth and Sports Affairs. Ms. Natarajan, party sources said, may therefore get Mr. Gandhi’s current portfolio — Youth Congress and NSUI — even though she may not be designated as general secretary. Of the possible new secretaries, four whose names were mentioned as possible junior ministers — Rajasthan’s Jyoti Mirdha (40) and Harish Choudhary (42), Tamil Nadu’s Manicka Tagore (37) and West Bengal’s Mausam Noor (33) — could make it.
Changing the party’s general secretaries is a far more difficult proposition, party sources stressed, with great resistance from this section. Currently, apart from Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary, Ahmed Patel, and treasurer Motilal Vora, there are 10 general secretaries and another eight who hold independent charge of States. While Mr. Gandhi would like to sweep aside a substantial number of those who hold posts at this level, Ms. Gandhi feels that it is important not to annoy the old guard, but rather bring in the changes in an incremental fashion. The old guard, on their part, are watching the situation closely, trying hard to protect their turf. The new team, therefore, will be what is popularly described as “a combination of youth and experience.”
To accommodate and utilise the “experience” of old-timers, there is a suggestion to establish a Congress advisory council, with party seniors such as Makhan Lal Fotedar, R.K. Dhawan, Mohsina Kidwai, Dr. Karan Singh and S.C. Jamir — all currently permanent invitees to the Congress Working Committee — leaving the day-to-day handling of party matters to Mr. Gandhi, who will then act on the advice of his mother.
If Mr. Gandhi finds it hard to change too many general secretaries, and those in charge of States, there could be significant alterations in the Congress Working Committee, the central election committee and the panel of spokespersons. PCC chiefs too could be changed.
Keywords: Cabinet reshuffle, Rahul Gandhi, Congress, Manmohan Singh
I must have been sleeping when I read 'Yuvraj' to lead...I thought
finally a born-fighter and a talented all rounder is now there to lead
the country from its muck. Alas it turned out to be the same one from
the Gandhi family and not our good ol' Yuvraj Singh, the man who did the
most amazing things on the cricket field. Ok, now back to my slumber.
Ridiculous heading. Can anybody tell me what are qualifications of this man except having been born to Italian madam and in Nehru family. To me this is no qualification at all. Mind you there are umpteen number of young men better qualified and highly experienced than this brash young man. Sycophancy is the name of the game. The educated and the intelligentsia of India should rise with one voice and ensure that this half-Italian half Indian does not get to lead India -as happens to be the sure indication as the matter stands. Let sycophancy-led government be thrown out come-election and let other better experienced and better qualified come forward and take the helm of India. Jay Hind !
Is the Indian National Congress a political party or a private enterprise of a particular
family? One is really confused, hence this question.
Smita Gupta, The Hindu, all Indians and the congress party should be ashamed to refer to Rahul Gandhi as the Crown Prince (Yuvaraj). Is not India a democracy where leaders are ELECTED by the people. This family has taken advantage of the GANDHI name to cheat and loot the ignorant Indians. Many foreigners and even ignorant Indians mistake this family to the true heirs of the MAHATMA. Are there no other qualified uncorrupt Indians to lead the party and or the country ? All opposition parties should come together in the interest of the nation and show the door to this family, that has RULED the country for most of the past sixty years of independence. Shame on Indians, if this family is allowed to continue in power.
God save the Congress and the country
Family rule is never good for india, we need real democracy based on merit. It is pathetic to see, the prime minister, president, vice-president,home minister, chief justice being appointed by one family or person. this family becomes immune to any law in this country, or nobody can question or audit them. are they above par, after this was supposed to be a democracy - we are no different from eqypt, jordan, syria, saudi arabia, bahrain, kuwait, libya when family rule is concerned.
Let the Congress sycophants address him "Yuvraj",but why the"HINDU"?.He
is no monarch's son but an ordinary citizen like the rest.If he thinks
that he is a prince let him go to a monarch-ruled country(e.g. G
.Britain) and not here...I consider the title used by Hindu to be
showing its sarcasm and nothing more,hope!....
There is no way Rahul or the mother will ever join cabinet ranks. After all that will
be make them somewhat accountable to their actions. Right now, they are enjoying
all possible powers without any real responsibility. Why give that up for a ministerial
rank?
Why The Hindu is becoming so much pro-government these days ? And what is with this Yuvraj thing. Do you wish to convey that country is a total dynasty rule. Sad but your are soon to lose the tag of sincere and unbiased journalism. As for RG, dont know why he keeping the nation deprived of himself. The ssoner he brings himself on, the better it is going to be.
Rahul and the title Yuvraj!!! LOL!! Why is HINDU one of the respected newspaper pleasing the political personalities with these kind of articles.It is misleading the public. Rahul only can be in the party because of dynasty politics and he cannot come into centre stage politics as he lacks the vision and knowledge of a statesman.
YUVRAJ and RAJKUMARI belonged to Raja Maharajas.Rightly quoted Rahul Gandhi as Yuvraj because we are still living under "Nehru-Gandhi Raj.No need to name them down the line because we are their public and not supposed to take their names.Only P.M.after P.M will be enough.Yuraj has all the rights not to work as minister (a public servant)but directly to govern us as Prime Minister of India.
Hindu calls him Yuvraj and a month ago Time TV called him Crown Prince. Is this India or Saudi Arabia ? It is shameful and obnoxious for a respected paper like Hindu promoting dynastic politics - knowingly or unknowingly !!!
A kind request to The Hindu: Please use full name while addressing throughout the article, not just Mr. Singh and Ms. Natarajan. Our Indian names are not particularly useful to refer with last name - Mr. Singh and Mr. Patel mean nothing to us, unlike western names like Mr.Blair or Mr. Romney.
Oh my god no one dare to speak the truth in congress all are blind, we have good qualified people who can run this country better than this man!
We state in our history with pride and Mahatma Gandhi "won" the independence from the British without spilling a single drop of blood. It appears that the independence earned without blood shed is not really deserved by the citizens. Since independence the country has shamelessly chosen the leaders from the lineage of only one family, excepting a few years here and there. Not surprisingly the best of the leaders like PV Narasimha Rao and Atal Behari Vajpeyee do not belong to the same dynasty. However this infatuation with the dynasty does not seem to be on the decline even after 65 years from independence, taking the country downhill perennially.
This is dynasty politics to the core. You don't need education, political experience, lend services from young age to people.All you need in India is one of your parents to be politician and thats it one day you will be given minister post. For Gandhi family you get straight ticket to PM. We should implement some law(it will take another 100 years in India) for entering politics which are done in western countries where you need degree in political science or law, represent peple from young age,do military service for a year, decision making skills and important of all consideration for common people. None of these skills you see in all the young ministers from India and Rahul Gandhi in particular.When an entry to IIT or AIIMS is kept so tough why can't we make a tough entry system for politics in India. Just a thought.
I would advice Rahul aginst accepting a post which sounds grand but is a sliding-stone for sure. H D Bahuguna was made the Secretary General which sounded better than General Secretary and he faded into political oblivion a short time later.
Working President had the same demise - Kamlapathi Tripathi.
The best way for Rahul to gain confidence amongst the rank and file of the party is by throwing the corrupt out of the party and hanging them out to dry.
A tall order, with his own brother-in-law in the cross-hairs.
Any less cleaning of the party is window dressing only.
Party organizers don't become prime ministers! Not normally,any way! Generally they don't have the content and the quality required to be a statesman leading the country and receiving respect of the population to hold the post of PM. Education, general knowledge, both of the country and the world, as well as charisma,trustworthiness, a vision and ability to administer are requirements for the post. Do we have that here? Public media seem to have a feudalistic fascination, it seems! Do Indian genes crave for autocracy ? If not, why not support a mature democracy and its inherent principles?
This reads more like a fan letter than a news report. Sections of the media are trying to project Rahul Gandhi as a fountain of wisdom, a Pied Piper who will lead India to the promised land. We should by now have seen some signs at least of achievement in the record of this supremely privileged middle aged child prodigy, but one looks in vain.
I dont understand who gave him the status of yuvarj, Its you people in the media scared of these people and praise him as yuvarj.
The heading is highly sensational. Didn't expect this from Hindu. As long as politics are run by families and media (including Hindu) acts as propaganda machine for them there is no bright future for India.
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