Viju Cherian
On Wednesday, January 23, the Congress announced Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s entry into active politics. In a press statement, Ashok Gehlot, the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), said that party president Rahul Gandhi appointed Priyanka Gandhi, his sister, as the AICC general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East.
For many who look up to the first family of the Congress, this announcement has been a much-awaited one. Understandably, it will be a morale booster for them. Priyanka Gandhi’s entry into active politics, at an initial glance, has its merits and demerits for the Congress.
First the positives. Priyanka Gandhi’s entering politics at a time when the Congress’ stock is low in UP (where she will be focusing). The Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party (BSP-SP) tie-up, in which both parties will contest 38 seats each, has excluded the Congress from its electoral alliance for the general elections. Of the total 80 seats, the BSP-SP combine has spared just four seats, out of which two (Amethi and Rae Bareli) are meant for the Congress. The Congress is likely to fight the polls in UP on its own and Priyanka Gandhi’s leadership could give the party a fighting chance against the BSP-SP combine, and even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
With Rahul Gandhi spreading his campaign focus across India and Sonia Gandhi unlikely to actively campaign (due to health reasons), it will have to be seen if Priyanka Gandhi’s focus on UP will pay dividends.
Also, it is not a coincidence that Priyanka Gandhi has been given charge of UP East under which the constituencies of Varanasi and Gorakhpur (both strongholds of the BJP) fall. Her entry also raises the question whether she will contest from Amethi or her mother’s seat of Rae Bareli. This announcement also adds weight to news reports that Rahul Gandhi could contest from Nanded in Maharashtra.
Now, to the negatives. Priyanka Gandhi’s entry as a general secretary will strengthen the accusation by other parties that the Congress is overly reliant and run by a single family. Expect the BJP to use this as ammunition during the election campaign.
Then there is the perennial question: How will this lateral entry affect the morale of leaders who believe that growth is possible in the Congress?
Will her entry a few months before the polls have the desired effect the Congress expects? Should the party have done this much earlier to give Priyanka Gandhi enough time to work among the cadre in the state?
A charge the BJP (among other parties but more successfully by the saffron party) has used against the Congress is its dependence on the Gandhis. On innumerable occasions BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have accused the Congress of ignoring other leaders in the party to boost the Gandhis.
Call it bad timing for the Congress or serendipity for its rival parties — the Congress has announced Priyanka Gandhi’s entry into the party on a day when the nation is celebrating the birth anniversary of a freedom fighter and Congress leader who fell out with party leaders then—Subhas Chandra Bose.
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