Rahul’s ‘new Cong’ promise: Will it work?

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 20

On Sunday, it was not for the first time Congress president Rahul Gandhi made promises to party workers to change the way things worked in the grand old party.

When he said “parachute candidates are being given party tickets”, his words rang a bell. Even in 2013, post his elevation as Congress vice-president, he had promised to revamp the Congress organisation and end injustice to workers. Even then, he had given a message that para troopers won’t be preferred in ticket distribution by the Congress.

Gandhi’s message that a wall existed between leaders and workers also sounded familiar. Even so, the Congress came out of its 84th Plenary hoping things will change, as promised once again by Gandhi.

Most leaders swore by the air of informality around the AICC session. The organising team, led by Gandhi’s sister Priyanka Vadra, ensured the stage was clean and clear, and only one person spoke at a time.

“This was a break from the past and it looked promising. For the first time we saw the focus shift away from leaders to issues. It was a welcome drift. The past practice where all the leaders of the Congress Working Committee would sit on the stage bred enmities. Leaders would keep vying for a space on the high stage. This time there was no such anxiety and the focus remained on solutions to national problems rather than on personalities. If this can change, we are sure other things can change too,” said Abhay Mishra, a Congress delegate from poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.

Back in Delhi, the buzz was that a major AICC overhaul was just round the corner. After Gandhi indicated on Monday that the old would have to make place for the young, it was clear he would embark on building a new team, with prominent positions to youngsters.

“Rahul Gandhi’s speech was a welcome reiteration of idealism and ideology. The challenge before the Congress president is to translate his vision into action, particularly because he has echoed the aspirations of the party workers,” said former Law Minister and AIC delegate from Punjab Ashawni Kumar.

Young Congress leaders kept fingers crossed. They acknowledged that the AICC session’s slogan “change is now” was urgent but wondered if it was implementable.

“Look at what happened in Haryana Congress on the eve of the Plenary. Rahul had to stay all lists as the faction led by ex-CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the other led by a young state chief Ashok Tanwar could not agree on delegate names,” a Haryana Congress leader said, pointing to harsh realities of politics and survival.