Ahmed Patel’s demise has left a crucial gap in the Congress. Apart from his personality, it also has a lot to do with the kind of role he played, that of a trouble shooter and a bridge between various factions of the Congress. Not to mention being a bridge between the allies and 3 Janpath as well. It is this void the Congress will find hard to fill.
Of course, with the rise of Team Rahul he had already begun taking his first few steps backwards. Rahul has his own trio of trouble shooters—K.C. Venugopal, Rajeev Satava and Randeep Surjewala. Will any or all of these be able to fill the gap that Patel has left? We saw them in action during the Ashok Gehlot versus Sachin Pilot crisis and in the end, it was Priyanka Gandhi who stepped in to placate Sachin Pilot and Ahmed Patel had a word with Gehlot to tone down. That’s what the party needs, someone senior who can tell them when to take it down a notch or two. This kind of heft comes with seniority but more than that with credibility.
Sources indicate that many are trying to fill this gap—from Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh to Ashok Gehlot himself. Before his revolt, Ghulam Nabi Azad too would have been a strong contender for this role. But I don’t see any of these names being successful for one simple reason: The mantle has also been passed on from Sonia to Rahul. It is now up to Rahul to see whom he would like in the role of both political advisor and troubleshooter. He may very well choose between Venugopal and Surjewala but if you ask me—as someone who has been covering the Congress for nearly three decades—he would be well advised to go with Priyanka Gandhi. For one, she has his complete trust and that is important. In her condolence note, Sonia Gandhi described Ahmed Patel as a “faithful comrade, irreplaceable colleague and friend”. If there was one person within the party whose loyalty she was sure of, it was Ahmed Patel. Her son too needs someone like this and who better than his sister Priyanka. She may lack Patel’s experience and rapport with allies but she has a connect within the party and there are many who see her as a sort of Brand Custodian. Even the 23 leaders who wrote raising concerns about the leadership vacuum within the party would be willing to follow her leadership.
Whoever the Congress chooses, it has to decide fast. For on the other side, playing the same role for Prime Minister Narendra Modi is Home Minister Amit Shah. If the Congress wants to give itself any kind of a fighting chance against the BJP in the next general elections, it needs to put its house in order. Certainly, Priyanka is no match for Amit Shah. It would be hard to see who is within the Congress, though in his last battle with Shah, it was Ahmed Patel who had the upper hand. The tragedy is that the party doesn’t have another Ahmed, but could Priyanka be groomed to become one? She has the right instincts.
One has also heard whispers of the party contemplating CWC elections and even elections to the post of the party president. One has also heard an equal number of whispers claiming that this is all a stalling tactic, the CWC has just been nominated and before long, Rahul too will be “nominated” as party chief. Or else he will go in for a proxy, such as either Surjewala or Venugopal. The concern in nominating a proxy is that if the new party chief is not Rahul himself then the G23 would definitely push for elections with one of them putting his or her hat in the ring.
For now, the flux continues. At a time when the party can least afford to waste any time, there are too many vacancies to be filled, too many gaps to be papered over. Perhaps Ahmed Bhai’s demise may give it the push it so badly needed—his last service to the party may well be a wake-up call to stop to start fending for itself. Is the Congress leadership listening?