Viju Cherian
At around 8PM on Thursday, December 13, Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted a photo of him flanked by Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia. In the tweet, Gandhi also quoted Leo Tolstoy: ‘The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.’
The two days since the Congress’ victory in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have exposed cracks within the party and is testing the leadership skills of Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi’s tweet came when there was uncertainty about who would be the next chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. Both Scindia and Nath were in the running and tempers of party workers loyal to either leader were running high. In the end, late into the night on Thursday, Nath was chosen as the CM.
At the time of writing this article a decision on the Rajasthan CM was still pending. Reports suggest the party leadership favours two-time CM Ashok Gehlot for the job. But 41-year-old Sachin Pilot, who is credited with rebuilding the state unit of the party over the last four years, is refusing to step aside.
Even if the time taken to decide a CM can be explained, the Congress cannot gloss over the fault lines this episode highlights. It not only exposes the decade-old problem of old-guard vs young-turks but also puts under the spotlight Gandhi’s decision-making process.
Congress leaders say a key reason for the party’s success in the three Hindi heartland states was the disillusionment of the youth with the BJP. Taking that logic further, how would the youth feel when Pilot who travelled across the state to rebuild it is asked to give way for Gehlot? Or when a young leader such as Scindia has to make way for 72-year-old Nath? How will this sit with the thousands of unemployed youth who look up to young leaders or what will this do to the morale of the many young Congress members who are willing to work for the growth of the party?
Watch | Decoding the Assembly Results
On December 11 not many thought that the Congress would win all the three Hindi heartland states — going by the time taken to decide on chief ministers (a decision is pending in Rajasthan) it looks like the Congress also did not think it would win.
This episode shows that while Rahul Gandhi might be ready to take on the Amit Shah-led BJP, he is yet to get a decisive grip on the Congress’ internal dynamics. Soon this episode will be put on the back burner, and the focus will shift on to the performance of the Congress governments in these states. It will, however, leave specks of doubt about Rahul Gandhi’s leadership qualities — in the minds of the voter, among allies and, most importantly, in the minds of the young Congress worker.
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