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Congress
In front office, it’s backroom boys that matter |
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Time to plan the party Getting into the poll mode for 2014, the UPA govt has reshuffled the Cabinet; a redo of the Congress party structure would be next on cards. Rahul Gandhi’s new role and the high command’s relations with regional satraps are the moves to watch out for By kv prasad
From
being voted back to power at the Centre in 2009, the popularity of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance deteriorated rapidly over the last three years, and it today faces a crisis of credibility. For a party that leads the ruling coalition in New Delhi, its image is severely dented by serious charges of corruption starting with 2G, Commonwealth Games, coal block allocations and murky land deals that keep tumbling out, besides accusations of being struck by policy paralysis. This downslide has not only to be arrested but an image makeover work has to begin too without delay.
Despite being surrounded on all sides by the Opposition and civil society groups, the Congress is determined to fight back, and has displayed its political skill by ensuring that the ruling coalition partners endorse its nominees for the top posts of President and Vice-President of India, and in the process called the Trinamool Congress bluff. To check the downslide and inject fresh enthusiasm in the government, last Sunday Prime Minister Manmohan Singh carried out a major reshuffle and expansion of his Council of Ministers, aiming to usher in better governance and dynamism in policy making over the next 18 months, when its five-year tenure ends. Key legislations, be it a slew of anti-corruption measures or those to re-ignite the economic reforms process, remain stalled. In addition, the party is extremely keen that the government work a way out to ensure that key social welfare legislation in the form of food security is enacted before heading for the general election. The Congress party calculation is that just as it drew electoral gains from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) in 2009 as a political outfit that cares for the deprived sections of society, another constitutionally mandated social security step of guaranteeing food for the most needy will reinforce the message of a party’s commitment to inclusive growth. On the organisational front, the Congress decided to aggressively counter the fusillade of charges against the government it heads at the Centre and its leaders with a mass rally in Delhi on November 4, where benefits of foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail and other economic reforms would be stressed. This will be followed up by top 70 leaders gathering on November 9 at Surajkund, Haryana, for a ‘Samvad Baithak’ to discuss the current political situation, economic challenges and implementation of the party manifesto. The Surajkund closed-door session offers the party an excellent opportunity to discuss threadbare how to prepare itself and deal with different situations, including the possibility of early elections.
Rise of Rahul
With the ministry-reshaping exercise behind it, the party is preparing to make changes in the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), and there is an air of excitement in the Grand Old Party, as its members await a decision on the young general secretary, Rahul Gandhi, assuming a more important role in the Indian National Congress. It has been eight years since the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family took a plunge into politics and five years as an office-bearer in the organisation. “Rahulji has to be in the party. He has to lead us as we prepare for the challenges ahead. Government comes from the party,” a senior AICC general secretary told The Tribune around the time the Amethi MP indicated a decision of his assuming a greater role was taken. Whether it is in the government or the organisation was for the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to decide. Rahul Gandhi is now left with Hobson’s choice. Having opted to stay out of the government when the Prime Minister effected changes in the Cabinet, it is safe to assume that he appears inclined to devote his energies in the Congress and prepare for challenges ahead — the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for the summer of 2014.
Young India
At the organisation level, the party needs to prepare for a change that keeps it in sync with the altering demography in the country, with over half of its population being young and the majority below the age of 25 years. With the spread of education and growing middle class, political leaders find themselves increasingly questioned on action or inaction on part of the governments. Empowered as they are through the Right to Information Act, accountability and transparency are the new mantras of clean all-round governance that political parties and governments are being judged on. Growth with equity and probity in public life is not empty rhetoric that can be repeated on the rote without any commitment to implement. A young voter today is more informed and seeks to judge a leader for what he or she represents and promises. Before exercising the right of franchise, the conscious voter knows he or she should not get carried away by slogans crafted by creative minds. Development is a key agenda of people and growth is compared to the best in the world.
Maths and morals
The Congress can re-invent itself making the party relevant to current day challenges while preparing the 127-year-old organisation to altering the political landscape. At the same time, it cannot wish away the compulsion before all political parties of getting the right caste and community calculations in electoral battles. In 1985, Rajiv Gandhi at the party’s Centenary celebrations in Mumbai made bold by announcing that the party needs to break the stranglehold of ‘powerbrokers’. And some seven years later, then party chief P.V. Narasimha Rao genuinely attempted to infuse inner-party democracy by conducting elections to the Congress Working Committee, but dumped the plan a few hours later. Young Rahul Gandhi’s laudable experiment of introducing similar reforms in the National Students Union of India and the Indian Youth Congress came a cropper with clever political brains working to outsmart the system devised by officials once associated with the management of elections in the country. Setbacks will be there and yet the way forward is to come up with innovative solutions for seemingly intractable problems and chart a new course.
To the regions
Since 1998, when Sonia Gandhi took the steering, the Congress’ fortunes have altered from being down in the dumps to ascendency as the leader This was a marked departure from the days when the “high command” maintained a stranglehold on the party apparatus, with others following the diktats. The practice had historical moorings in the form of a political battle waged against the syndicate in the late 1960s, but in the end it proved disastrous when strong regional parties like the Telugu Desam emerged on an emotive slogan of ‘pride’. Of course, critics of the current practice argue that stability in Pradesh Congress units armed with strong backing of the central leadership resulted in stagnation both in terms of ideas and growth. While drawing fresh contours of the party structure in this backdrop, the Congress will have ample opportunity to test the waters ahead of the scheduled Lok Sabha elections. Next year, Assembly elections are due in some eight states, including three in the Northeast — Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura; three in the Hindi heartland of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan; the metropolis of Delhi; and Karnataka in the South. In effect, these can be seen as mini-general elections. The new team will have to be a blend of both youth and experience with representation across a wide spectrum, reflecting ground realties, and one that is capable of meeting the challenges ahead as well as the aspirations of a young nation with a centuries-old
civilisation. While drawing fresh contours of the party structure in the backdrop of strong regional leaders, the Congress will have ample opportunity to test the waters ahead of the scheduled Lok Sabha elections.
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In front office, it’s backroom boys that matter Team Sonia Outside of her immediate family, Ahmed Patel is the political pointsman. From ensuring that the coalition partners remain on board to ensuring that the leaders with the Congress remain in tune with the party high command, Ahmed does it all. His work starts in the evening and continues well past the wee hours. He avoids publicity and usually prefaces a rare comment or nugget of information with a deadpan voice, “Mujhe quote nahin karma”.
Team Rahul
Call them Team RG. It is a group of young people who act as aides and advise Rahul Gandhi as he goes about working for the National Students Union of India (NSUI), Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and discharges his duties as a Member of Parliament, representing the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency. As the Congress awaits its young leader to assume an important role in the grand old Congress, few key aides of Rahul maintain a low-profile, considering the veil of secrecy their Boss wraps around him. They have their own secretariat, complete with a media office that decides when and whom to speak or reach to and do not depend on the huge infrastructure available at the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Rahul can be spotted in the Lok Sabha occupying a middle row in the company of young MPs like Milind Deora, Jitin Prasada and Sachin Pilot, all of whom have moved to the government. Kanishka Singh
From interacting with constituents and preparing itinerary for Rahul, Kanishka, or ‘K’, wields tremendous power in the not-so-public set-up of Rahul on account of his unhindered access to the leader. Equipped with a computer that contains all key data, including caste and other combinations of each district, he is known to be a number-cruncher, providing inputs to the Boss at all times. From screening people to fixing appointments that precede a brief note about the person before Rahul gets to meet the person is routine. Sachin Rao
Jitendra Singh
Meenakshi Natarajan
The Sirsa MP came in close contact with Rahul after heading the IYC, a position he held till 2010. He was one of those who was in the team during the transition when Rahul experimented by introducing “real” elections for the NSUI and IYC. Married to Avantika Maken, daughter of the late Congress leader Lalit Maken, this down-to-earth politician earned his spurs by working on the ground in the organisation. — KV Prasad |
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Although
It is at the core committee that the party deliberates and takes political decisions — be it the need to do away with subsidies or directing the Congress government in the states to slash sales tax to reduce the impact of fuel hike — that are then implemented by the government.
In American political parlance, Kanishka Singh can be best described as the “chief of staff” to Rahul. Son of former Foreign Secretary and later Governor SK Singh, Kanisha worked as an investment banker before joining Rahul. 
Known for his management skills, Sachin Rao brings to work his experience as one who was in the business of software solutions and has a management degree from Michigan Business School in corporate strategy and international business. His work on a project with management leader CK Prahalad introduced him to work on the bottom of the pyramid approach to understand the country’s economic structure from the far-end of the tunnel. He fits well into Rahul’s boardroom style political management policies, be it at 12, Tughlak Road official residence, or the War Room at 15, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road.
Member of the erstwhile Alwar Royals, Jitendra Singh was in the news recently after being one of the few ministers to be given dual charge — Minister of State with Independent Charge of Sports and Youth Affairs and Minister
osf State for Defence under AK Antony — after being shifted from the Home Ministry. He spent time in the AICC as secretary and is known to be the “eyes and ears” of Rahul, both in the party and the government. He shares Rahul’s enthusiasm as an aviator.
A postgraduate in bio-chemistry and a law graduate, Meenakshi came into prominence as the president of the NSUI. Hailing from Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, she was responsible for the controversy that the then BJP leader Uma Bharati offered cake as ‘prasad’ to a Hindu deity, considered sacrilegious. Recently, she raised the hackles by drafting a Private Member’s Bill to regulate the media. Known for her simple style, Meenakshi can be seen hopping into an autorickshaw to travel around.
Ashok Tanwar