Congress committees from different States are expected to submit their reports on the reasons for the 2019 Lok Sabha debacle by next Tuesday. But the big question that is being asked in party circles is “who is going to analyse or examine these reports”, given that the uncertainty over the top post is now set to extend into a third week.
Party insiders, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was likely to be clarity in the coming week once Congress president Rahul Gandhi returned from a three-day visit to Kerala, where he had gone to thank the voters of Wayanad for having elected him as their MP.
“By June 17, the first session of the newly constituted Lok Sabha will start and the party needs to take some important decisions like appointing its leader in the Lok Sabha,” a Congress MP, who declined to be identified, said, adding that Mr. Gandhi would have to either take these decisions himself or depute leaders to take these decisions. Various reports have been floating on the options available to the party: from appointing working presidents to appointing a panel of senior leaders to run the day-to-day functioning of the party.
Keeping his counsel
Ever since May 25, when Mr. Gandhi told the Congress Working Committee (CWC) that he would step down as party president, he has refused to meet any Congress leader, including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his deputy Sachin Pilot and Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath.
But officially, the party maintains that Mr. Gandhi is still in charge.
“Let me again reiterate, Shri Rahul Gandhi is the president of the Indian National Congress and there are no two opinions or doubts on this issue,” Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told presspersons on June 1. “I would request all the naysayers to hold their breath; the Congress Working Committee has authorised Shri Rahul Gandhi to do a complete overhaul of the organisation from top to bottom,” he added.
On May 29, The Hindu quoted an unnamed Congress official who had asserted that Mr. Gandhi could start meeting party leaders and taking decisions even though he was firm on stepping down. He was also likely to agree to oversee the revamp of the party that the CWC had authorised.
But with the uncertainty over Mr. Gandhi’s continuance as president prolonging, the Congress appears to be in disarray. From Rajasthan to Haryana, from Punjab to Madhya Pradesh, bitter factionalism has surfaced. After en masse desertion by a dozen lawmakers in Telangana, there were problems with allies as well. In Karnataka, a video showing Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil exhorting Janata Dal(S) party workers to prepare for mid-term elections, went viral on social media.
On Friday, at a review meeting in Mumbai, Congress workers accused workers of its ally, the Nationalist Congress Party, of having helped the BJP. “Rahul Gandhi has to take over the reins as it is important to protect the unity and integrity of the party and as the Congress president, it is his duty to ensure this,” senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily said on Friday. “If he is determined to step down, then he himself should find a replacement and until then he should continue firmly.”
