Rahul Gandhi could not have chosen a worse moment for self-introspection, coinciding as it does with a parliamentary budget session. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s humiliating defeat in the recent Delhi Assembly elections, and the unqualified support for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance’s Land Acquisition Act — that the Modi government diluted in an ordinance and now seeks to transform into an Act of Parliament — provide the perfect setting for the Grand Old Party to take on the role of an effective leader of the opposition in Parliament. And, as Mr. Gandhi was the moving spirit behind the previous UPA government’s Land Acquisition Act, the Congress could have used the legislation’s current cause célèbre status to relaunch its heir apparent. The party had even announced that he would address a public meeting on the issue at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on February 25. For Mr. Gandhi, therefore, it is not just a case of another missed opportunity: the “leave of absence” he has taken to “reflect on recent events and [the] future course of the party” has left Congress president Sonia Gandhi embarrassed, and the party faithful stunned — and bewildered. So much so that the official explanation that Mr. Gandhi would shortly “return and resume his active participation in the affairs of the Congress” is not being bought entirely even by senior party functionaries — which is also a testimony to the marked lack of transparency within the party.
The speculative explanations proffered by party leaders, however, ranged from the plausible to the bizarre. One, Ms. Gandhi’s coterie was resisting his elevation and opposing the changes he wished to institute in the party. Two, it was a prelude to his exit from politics, as Mr. Gandhi was tired of being the fall guy, including after the recent Delhi polls. Three, he was finally getting married. If there is no evidence for the third explanation, Mr. Gandhi had planned a two-month sabbatical starting in the last week of January, before the Delhi polls — eventually, Ms. Gandhi persuaded him against it. However, the first holds a germ of truth as the Congress is clearly engaged in its own internal politics rather than in a project of revival. But damaging as Mr. Gandhi’s “leave of absence” is for the Congress, it is consistent with his known need for frequent breaks. The Congress has shown no signs yet of demanding an alternative leadership; it can now only hope that Mr. Gandhi returns refreshed for the unveiling of a plan of action at the All India Congress Committee conclave coming up in early April.