It appears that the Congress party has adopted a self-destructive approach instead of fighting back to regain lost popularity. With the general election barely two years away, the party is still undecided about its face to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming battle for power. After badly losing two electoral battles against BJP, Rahul Gandhi has declined the offer to lead the party again at this crucial juncture. On the other hand, the so-called rebel leaders of the party are not acceptable to the rank and file of the party. To break the impasse, an idea has been floated by certain sections of the party which advocates Sonia Gandhi’s continuance as the party chief with the condition that two or more working presidents should also be appointed. But it has few takers as many feel that multiple power centers in the party will do more harm than good to the party.
Now, the million dollar question is who will replace Sonia Gandhi. Though a number or names are in circulation, none have the all-India stature, the primary requisite to lead a national level party. Furthermore, some so called senior Congress leaders, whose names appear in the media daily, have lost touch with the ground reality which was evident from the thrashing they received during the last general elections. For example, two-time Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and a very senior leader of the party Digvigay Singh lost badly from Bhopal parliamentary constituency. Rebel leaders such as Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma have never contested in any parliamentary elections, though they aspire to lead the party. As a matter of fact, huge increase in the number of rootless leaders along with nepotism have spelt doom for the party.
The disease started spreading in the late sixties when the late Indira Gandhi sidelined various senior Congress leaders in different parts of the country and started giving importance to leaders without any support base. Since then, the party has been full of leaders who are only known for their proximity with the party high command, rather than their closeness with the grassroots level workers. The trend continued even when Rajiv Gandhi took over the reins of the party from his mother. This was deliberately done to establish the hegemony of the Gandhi family over the party. To her credit, Sonia tried her best to reverse the trend, but couldn’t achieve desired success which was evident in Amrinder Singh’s removal as Punjab Chief Minister just months before the Assembly elections in the state.
So, the challenge to find a suitable person to lead the party in the crucial 2024 general elections is difficult. Due to her health issues, Sonia may not be able to lead the party from the front while her children Rahul and Priyanka are yet to prove their mettle. Uncertainty looms large with no possible replacement in sight to lead the party.