The old guards of Congress, led by Ahmed Patel and Ghulam Nabi Azad played the card and asked the 72-year-old Sonia Gandhi to become President amid her failing health. What next! Sonia Gandhi appointed herself to the president post on August 10. The successive failures of Congress in 2014 and 2019 general election made the flag bearer of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, Rahul Gandhi resign from the top post of the party. With the appointment of Sonia Gandhi as interim President of the Congress party, the old guard has executed a bloodless coup against fresh blood.
The resignation of Rahul Gandhi had made Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot hopeful for the post of President. The call for a young party chief was supported by a few senior Congress leaders like Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and former defense minister A K Antony.
With Sonia Gandhi at the helm of party affairs, the old guardian has started asserting itself once again. In Haryana, Sonia Gandhi’s loyalist- Bhupinder Singh Hooda was appointed the leader of Congress Legislative Party. Youth leader Ashok Tanwar, who was appointed as state’s Congress unit chief by Rahul Gandhi has been replaced by Kumari Selja, 56-year-old leader close to Hooda.
Rahul Gandhi, the young scion of the party tried to infuse new blood, but he failed to weed out old leaders. When Congress won assembly election in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot were his favourites for the post of Chief Minister. But Sonia’s old loyalists- Kamal Nath and Ashok Gehlot prevailed. Even in Chhattisgarh, 56-year-old Bhupesh Baghel was appointed to CM post.
The party might appoint new Chiefs in many states like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan in a bid to organizational reshuffle. The old guard which has remained loyal to Sonia Gandhi is expected to get priority.
Rahul Gandhi tried to blame 2019 defeat on the old guardians, but they distanced themselves from any responsibility. After the results, Rahul Gandhi said that senior leaders were busy in the promotion of family (a clear indication towards Kamal Nath and Ashok Gehlot) instead of campaigning for the party. Although, he has not been able to take any disciplinary action against them.
Even in his resignation letter, Rahul Gandhi took a dig at the old leaders of the party with ‘it is a habit in India that the powerful cling to power’ remark. He said, “It is a habit in India that the powerful cling to power, no one sacrifices power. But we will not defeat our opponents without sacrificing the desire for power and fighting a deeper ideological battle.” But instead of ‘sacrificing the desire for power’, the old caretakers of Congress are seen once again controlling the ‘grand old party’.
Congress party carries the baggage of being ‘Grand Old Party’ of India and therefore the old guardian prevails every time. The majority of the 55 members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party are pre-Sonia Gandhi era veterans. Tarun Gogoi, Harish Rawat, Oommen Chandy, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Manmohan Singh, AK Antony, Ambika Soni, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ashok Gehlot, Anand Sharma, Siddaramaiah were prominent Congress face respective states before Sonia Gandhi became president in 1998. Out of 55, 20 CWC members are above 70 years, with eldest member Motilal Vora in early 90s.
In a ‘New India’, where parties like BJP have put 70 years as age bar, it will be interesting to see whether a party with more than one-third of executive committee members above 70 will succeed.