Is Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi serious about next year’s Uttar Pradesh assembly polls? Has he handed over the planning of the election campaign to poll strategist Prashant Kishor?
These questions are doing the rounds in the Congress these days as the rank and file eagerly awaits the unveiling of the grand plan to revive the party in the important Hindi heartland state.
Doubts about Rahul Gandhi’s commitment to Uttar Pradesh have arisen as he does not appear to be showing the same degree of interest in the forthcoming polls as he had done in the 2012 assembly elections. Rahul Gandhi had then led the party from the front. The Nehru-Gandhi scion staked it all on Uttar Pradesh – he took personal interest in all aspects of the election. Not only was he involved in drawing up the poll strategy and in the selection of candidates but he was also the party’s lead campaigner. However, the results proved to be disastrous as the Congress finished fourth with a mere 28 seats.
The frenetic activity witnessed in the run-up to the 2012 elections is missing this time round. True, a series of meetings with state leaders were convened after Prashant Kishor was hired to help out with the Uttar Pradesh polls. The party followed this up by entrusting the responsibility of the poll-bound state to veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, which was seen as a sure sign that the Congress will move quickly to put its house in order and roll out its campaign at the earliest. But Rahul Gandhi has chosen to stay under the radar, giving the impression to party workers that it is Prashant Kishor who is calling the shots. This has not gone down well with Uttar Pradesh Congress leaders who feel the poll strategist is exceeding his brief.
Though the Congress rank and file is willing to give Rahul Gandhi the benefit of the doubt – after all, he did face a lot of flak for unnecessarily over-exposing himself in that 2012 assembly poll – they are unable to understand his perceived lack of involvement. Soon after he returned from his holiday last week, Rahul Gandhi had a lengthy discussion about the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Azad but nothing more has been heard since then.
Some kind of beginning has been made following reports that Uttar Pradesh Congress president Nirmal Khatri has resigned to enable the leadership to energise the state unit with a more effective chief. This may prove to be a proverbial case of too little, too late as Khatri’s replacement was long overdue. With assembly elections due less than a year away, party insiders wonder if the new state unit president will be able to achieve much in such a short period.
Into the forests, again
While the cadres are waiting for the Congress leadership to come out with its roadmap for Uttar Pradesh (it is expected any day now) , the recent announcement about Rahul Gandhi’s forthcoming campaign to corner the National Democratic Alliance government on the dilution of the Forest Rights Act , has left them baffled and bewildered.
The Congress recently announced that Rahul Gandhi will begin his travels to seven tribal-dominated states with a trip to Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh in August which will be followed up with visits to other states including Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. “The plan is to highlight how the Modi government has deliberately sabotaged the Forest Rights Act, “ Jairam Ramesh, Congress spokesperson and the chief architect of this programme, told press persons last week. Having succeeded in painting the ruling alliance as “anti-poor and anti-farmer” following its campaign on the land acquisition Bill, the Congress is now attempting to highlight that Modi is acting against the interests of tribals.
While nobody in the Congress is questioning the need to run this campaign, they are wondering if it could not have waited till later. “ Rahul Gandhi should be concentrating on next year’s assembly elections…instead he is busy finalising plans to travel to Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra This gives the impression that he is not taking these elections seriously,” remarked a Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh. Punjab and Uttarakhand are also headed for polls along with Uttar Pradesh. Since none of the poll-bound states have a tribal population, the timing of this campaign does not make any sense, Congress functionaries maintained.
While Congress functionaries are chafing at Rahul Gandhi’s misplaced priorities, the possibility of Priyanka Gandhi playing a larger role in the Uttar Pradesh campaign has electrified the rank and file. There was palpable excitement following the newly-appointed Congress general secretary Azad’s statement which suggested that Priyanka Gandhi will not confine her campaign to the family strongholds Rae Bareli and Amethi. However, the party is now sending contradictory signals, suggesting that there is a rethink on Priyanka’s role.
As somebody who had sounded optimistic about Priyanka Gandhi less than a month ago, Azad was unusually sharp with television news channels last week for running a story about her joining the campaign in Uttar Pradesh. There are fresh concerns that Priyanka’s entry will end up undermining Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. It is, therefore, being suggested that her role should be defined only after Rahul Gandhi takes over as party president. At the same time, it is feared that the party will run out of options if Priyanka Gandhi fails to deliver in Uttar Pradesh. Although there are great expectations from Rahul Gandhi’s more charismatic sibling, it is also a fact that the Congress is in extremely poor shape in Uttar Pradesh and it will take more than a miracle for the Congress to be seen as a serious contender in these elections.