A Legacy Of Lady ruled Party To continue?
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Has Active Role In Congress Internal Polls, A section of leaders want Priyanka Gandhi to contest the Congress election.
The Congress election to choose a new president is the first in more than 20 years where no one from the Gandhi family is in the running. But apparently, they have not been entirely hands off, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, contrary to public perception, is taking an active interest in the election.
Rahul Gandhi, who stepped down from the top post after the party’s crushing defeat in two consecutive general elections, has refused to contest, making the election necessary. He was also asked that his mother and sister stay away from the party polls.
Senior leaders in the party, who wish to see an organizational service, talk of Ms Gandhi Vadra’s role in the election. She joined the party in January 2019 and was named its general secretary in Uttar Pradesh, is attempting to ensure a suitable candidate is found for the post of president, they said.
That search got tougher with the crisis in Rajasthan, in which MLAs loyal to Mr Gehlot threatened to resign if their say regarding the state’s next chief minister was not accepted. Mr Gehlot, a longtime loyalist of the Gandhi family, was the frontrunner in the election where his rival was Shashi Tharoor.
With the Gandhis hugely upset by the public “humiliation” of the party and Mr Gehlot’s role, the Rajasthan Chief Minister met Sonia Gandhi with a profuse apology this evening and declared that he would not participate in the Congress election.
Two years ago, when Sachin Pilot had rebelled, Ms Gandhi Vadra had helped defuse the crisis through her intervention. This time, she wanted Mr Pilot to get a chance head the government and lead it to next year’s assembly elections.
While one section in the party has been keen that Rahul Gandhi lead them, on the other hand another section is keen that Ms Gandhi Vadra contest the internal election for the party chief’s post.
Rahul Gandhi while stepping down from the Chief post of congress in 2019, made it very clear that the party should not look at the Gandhi family for leadership and should soon find a suitable replacement from the ranking leaders.
“Do not drag my sister into it… “It is not necessary that the president should be from Gandhi family,” he had said at one of the many party meetings held to persuade him to reconsider his decision.
Eventually, Sonia Gandhi had to take over as the interim president as the many leaders insisted that the Congress will be further weakened if a Gandhi was not at the helm.
Since Independence, the Congress has been led mostly by members of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Under the rare non-Gandhi chief, like Sitaram Kesri, its performance has been unimaginative. Mrs Gandhi had taken over from Sitaram Kesri in March 1998 – two years after the Narasimha Rao government was voted out, when the party was in one of its lowest points.
