The Congress seems to be making too many tactical and political errors. This old guard versus young Turks fight in the Congress is not new. It had been going on for long, ever since the Indira Gandhi days when she split the party in 1969 pushing out the Syndicate led by the then Congress President K Kamaraj. The Syndicate thought that they could manipulate her but Indira proved to be a shrewd politician and emerged stronger with her split party. After she won the Bangladesh war, politically she reached her pinnacle. Later, when the Congress party split in 1978, Congress (Indira) emerged as the real Congress.

When Rajiv Gandhi succeeded her in 1984 after her assassination, he was surrounded by his own coterie. But he also kept some of the seniors with him. Since Rajiv was a politically strong leader with over 400 Congress MPs backing him, the feud between the old guard and young Turks was muted. A section of the old guard brought Sonia Gandhi in 1998 and they were loyal to her while she was also depending on them. The fight between the old guard began when only when she promoted her son, and he old guard was apprehensive of their future while Rahul’s team was getting impatient.

The politically savvy old guard managed to block and somehow managed to bring back Sonia when Rahul resigned last August. Rahul himself criticised the old guard in the May 25 Congress Working Committee meeting. With the departure of Jyotiraditya Scindia in March and rebellion by Sachin Pilot now, two of closest aides of Rahul Gandhi, the Team Rahul is further agitated. The fact that the newly elected MP Rajiv Satav, said to be close to Rahul, was bold enough to be critical of the old guard and the UPA-2, Leaders like Anand Sharma, Manish Tiwari, Milind Deora, among others, retorted strongly, with the result that Satav had to withdraw his remarks about UPA-2.

Sonia and Rahul are not like Indira and Rajiv. Leading a weakened Congress is different from leading a politically strong Congress. The departure of two young charismatic leaders like Scindia and Pilot in the last four months and the loss of Madhya Pradesh and a wobbling Rajasthan have weakened the leadership further. Younger leaders from Team Rahul like Milind Deora and Jitiin Prasada are also likely to leave.

The immediate urgency is the leadership vacuum. If Rahul wants to come back as the party chief, he should do so at the earliest. The ‘Bring Rahul chant’ has already begun. Fortunately, for the Gandhis there is no challenge to Rahul. However, if he does not want to come back, he should make it clear.

Dissent in the Congress is also not new as Congress functioned as an umbrella party providing space for all kinds of opinions. But discussing within the party forum and publicly airing the differences are two different things. The generational divide in the Congress goes much beyond and if no corrective measures are taken it will affect the revival of the patty.

Can this issue be resolved? It is indeed tricky as both camps are not willing to wait. With both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul helplessly watching the fight and with a leadership crisis facing the party, they need an out-of-the-box thinking. As the old guard says now is the time for introspection and correction. The party should have a conclave like it did in Pachmarhi and Shimla.

The former minister Salman Khursheed had put the present crisis in perspective. In an article, he sums up “The loss of promising young leaders, irrespective of the reason, is indeed unfortunate and sad. But the young, who feel we older generation are not giving way, must not forget that there are even younger ones waiting on the sides. The crisis is not about young and old but about those who want to leave, and those who are determined not to abandon ship in stormy weather.” The erosion has begun in the party like it happened before Sonia stepped in in 1998. The Gandhis should realise that 2020 is not 1998. Also the family has proved that they are not vote-catchers now.

The party needs leadership, direction, revival, a new narrative and unity. (IPA Service)