23 years and counting, will congress finally get a non Gandhi president?
Will it be a Gandhi or a non-Gandhi? With less than a month left for the Congress to elect its new president, there is still no clarity on .
With less than a month left for the Congress to elect its new president, there is still no clarity on this all-important question.
The word in the 136-year-old party is that the senior leaders want a Gandhi family member to lead the party into the next parliamentary election in 2024. But as of now, that looks far from certain.
None of the Gandhis keen to lead?
Rahul Gandhi is reportedly keeping the party on tenterhooks and has so far declined offers to take up the top job again. He was party president from 2017 to 2019.
His sister Priyanka Gandhi is also said to be in focus but her performance as the Uttar Pradesh in charge has not been inspiring, especially with the debacle in the state polls earlier this year.
Meanwhile, current president Sonia Gandhi has said that she would not continue in her role due to health conditions.
If not Gandhi, then who?
Some Congress seniors are said to be working on Plan-B if none of the Gandhis finally agree to head the party. But no clear “frontrunner” has emerged so far, leaving room for speculation and surmise. The 71-year-old Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, a Gandhi loyalist, appears to be a suitable non-Gandhi contender for the top party position.
MP unit chief Kamal Nath is said to have declined when approached by a section within the party, saying that he cannot leave the state. Some say that a senior Dalit leader can be the choice if the party has to fill the post outside the Gandhi family.
This has propped up names like former Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Mallikarjun Kharge and Mukul Wasnik. “G-23” members Anand Sharma and Ghulam Nabi Azad, after exiting important party positions in their respective states, are believed to have diminished their chances.
Notably, the Congress has not had a non-Gandhi president since 1998, after Sitaram Kesri.
Meanwhile, current president Sonia Gandhi has said that she would not continue in her role due to health conditions.
Some Congress seniors are said to be working on Plan-B if none of the Gandhis finally agree to head the party. But no clear “frontrunner” has emerged so far, leaving room for speculation and surmise.
The 71-year-old Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, a Gandhi loyalist, appears to be a suitable non-Gandhi contender for the top party position.
MP unit chief Kamal Nath is said to have declined when approached by a section within the party, saying that he cannot leave the state.
Some say that a senior Dalit leader can be the choice if the party has to fill the post outside the Gandhi family.
This has propped up names like former Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Mallikarjun Kharge and Mukul Wasnik.
“G-23” members Anand Sharma and Ghulam Nabi Azad, after exiting important party positions in their respective states, are believed to have diminished their chances.
Notably, the Congress has not had a non-Gandhi president since 1998, after Sitaram Kesri.
Will congress stick to the timeline?
The party’s Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said it was up to the Congress Working Committee to approve the final date for the election, which could be any day between now and September 20.
The authority said it would stick to the schedule of electing a new chief by September 20.
However, sections in the party did not rule out a delay, considering the reluctance of Rahul Gandhi in contesting for the top post, lack of a ‘Plan B’ and the current focus of the Congress on organizing ‘Bharat Jodo yatra’ next month. Many believe Rahul will have to finally accept the job.
The settling of the leadership issue in a convincing manner has implications not just for Congress but also for the crowded anti-BJP bloc which is witnessing increasing jostling for the 2024 elections.
