The Congress has come out with its Rajya Sabha list, creating a lot of heartburn within the party. Incidentally even the BJP came out with its list but that’s not creating such a buzz for the simple reason that within the BJP there is little point in creating a ruckus as decisions are taken by the top two and no one else is involved either in the process or post facto. The ones that are left out swallow their disappointment and keep shut as they know that with or without a Rajya Sabha seat the BJP is still the best gig in town.
But Congress leaders have other options and like Kapil Sibal, Hardik Patel, and Sunil Jakhar, they are not afraid to exercise them. This is why it’s surprising Congress did not come out with a more inclusive list. Those who have been accommodated are mostly Rahul Gandhi loyalists like Randeep Surjewala, Ajay Maken, and Jairam Ramesh. Two from Priyanka Gandhi’s camp made it—Rajiv Shukla and Pramod Tiwari. Both Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath managed to get Vivek Tankha in. And Sonia Gandhi ensured P. Chidambaram and Mukul Wasnik were included. Two-star campaigners Ranjeet Ranjan and Imran Pratapgarhi were given Rajya Sabha berths while G23 dissidents Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma were left out. As was the Congress party’s star spokesperson, Pawan Khera, who has been doing a commendable job not just articulating the party’s defence but also strategising a smart answer.
The dominant message that comes from all this is that the Rajya Sabha nominations can be seen as a continuation of the Chintan Shivir theme: that the Gandhis are very much in control and dissidents will not be entertained. What is interesting however is the fact that domicile has not been given precedence. Not only is there no candidate from Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, two of the states that are going to the polls but Randeep, who belongs to Haryana, has been sent from Rajasthan while Ajay has been sent from Haryana. The one reason for this is that the Gandhis could not prevail upon Bhupinder Hooda to give a seat to his
bête noire and so Randeep had to go to Rajasthan. Also interesting is the fact that Selja Kumari has been left out—another example of Team Rahul being given precedence over a Sonia loyalist. Similarly, Mukul, who is from Maharashtra, has been nominated from Rajasthan even though there was a vacancy in his home state. That seat has been given to Imran, who is from Uttar Pradesh.
What is equally interesting is those who did not make it. For one, there was no one from Gujarat or Himachal which are set to go to polls soon. Instead, three names from Uttar Pradesh (where the party doesn’t stand a great chance of revival and where elections are five years away) were accommodated. The congress has been wooing Naresh Patel, who has a formidable Patidar following in Gujarat—a Rajya Sabha berth could have cemented that equation.
Also left out of the Rajya Sabha list is Priyanka. She would have been a welcome addition to the list and would have ensured that there is a Gandhi presence in both the houses. Priyanka is articulate and doesn’t shy away from a fight. Also, she gets the headlines. Plus this would have been an important addition to her CV, yet for some reason, Priyanka was left out. As a consolation prize, two of her loyalists were accommodated, Rajiv and Pramod.
Those who are asking why the Congress did not live up to its Chintan Shivar resolution and give adequate representation to Dalits, minorities, and women, should not be so exacting in holding the Congress to its word. The party is already dwindling in its Rajya Sabha numbers so instead of tokenism, it needs to promote articulate voices. In that, Rahul has added another qualification—these voices should be those who would also be articulate in defending him and his line of thought. The Gandhi scion has often complained that the old guard doesn’t attack the PM or the RSS directly, leaving the task to Rahul. Well, now he has ensured that his faithful ones have entered the Rajya Sabha and they will give a voice to his line of thought in the upper house. One could argue that before his ascension as the party president Rahul is putting his team in place.
Within Congress, there is also talk of postponing the internal polls to choose the next party chief. Everyone knows who it will be, so that’s not such a loss, either way. The reason behind the delay could be that Sonia doesn’t want Himachal and Gujarat to be Rahul’s first big test as the party chief as Congress is not tipped to do well in these. According to sources, she would rather do the changeover close to Karnataka polls as the Congress party’s chances are brighter there. But it is high time Congress stops linking Rahul’s elevations to state elections.
What Congress workers are hoping for is signs of visible leadership and some effective messaging from their leader in waiting. Rahul’s Cambridge trip was tipped to do just that, he did make some sharp points there but these were lost in the controversy over his `India is a Union of States’ comment. Rahul should have followed this comment with an articulate explanation of his reasoning. Instead, he left the thought half-finished and spokespersons back home were caught off guard as they were not tipped about his speech in advance; and the BJP was able to spin the speech the way they wanted to. So it’s not enough to put a team in place —Rahul will also have to brief the team and make sure that they are all on the same page. In other words, he will have to play leader both on ground and not just on social media.