Under Rahul Gandhi's nose: Arunachal gone, Uttarakhand going, Manipur brewing...

The political crises in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have highlighted the weaknesses of the new “system” which Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is trying to put in place in the party.

The Congress has already lost power in Arunachal Pradesh and is currently struggling to stay afloat in Uttarakhand. Trouble is also brewing in Manipur, where disgruntled legislators have raised a banner of revolt against Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh.

These political bushfires have demonstrated that Rahul Gandhi and his team members are rather ill-equipped to handle a crisis of this nature.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi would be in a far better position to deal with such problems, but she has largely withdrawn from party affairs, leaving it to her son to take key decisions. But his inexperience invariably lets him down and it appears that his team members are of not much help either.

Old guard

Every time the Congress runs into choppy waters, the party has to turn to its senior leaders for help. For instance, while Team Rahul was at sea when the Uttarakhand crisis erupted a week ago, it was left to a delegation of senior leaders to try and salvage the situation.

The AK Antony-led delegation that met President Pranab Mukherjee included Ambika Soni, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Motilal Vora, Ahmed Patel and Kapil Sibal. They alleged that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government was destabilising a democratically-elected government in Uttarakhand and urged him to uphold the rule of law in the state.

“Where was Team Rahul… there was no evidence to show that it was in place to deal with the situation,” said a senior Congress leader.

It was the same story when Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were directed to appear before a trial court last December in connection with the National Herald case. The senior leaders swung into action and made sure that the court appearance was converted into a show of strength, as Congress workers from across the country were assembled at the party office to stand in solidarity with the top leadership. The entire operation was handled by Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel, while other senior leaders like Antony, Azad and Soni were also involved.

Avoidable situation

Rahul Gandhi’s inability to deal with crisis situations like Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand can also be put down to his preoccupation with streamlining the organisation, while his involvement in realpolitik has remained peripheral.

For instance, Rahul Gandhi failed to see the danger signs when disgruntled legislators from Arunachal Pradesh camped in Delhi for nearly three weeks to complain about then Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, but had to go back without meeting the Congress vice-president.

Similarly, he paid no heed to the Uttarakhand legislators who had a grouse with Chief Minister Harish Rawat. The situation in the two states would not have taken such a drastic turn had Rahul Gandhi been more experienced, or had he been properly guided by his advisers.

Also, the party’s senior leaders are not going out of their way to advise Rahul Gandhi. They step in only when a situation gets out of hand, which also helps them showcase their indispensability.

BJP on the attack

Realising that the Congress leadership is not in control, the BJP has predictably been quick to fish in troubled waters. Having ensured the downfall of the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh, it is attempting doing the same in Uttarakhand with nine rebel Congress legislators in its arsenal.

In fact, the BJP is not necessarily aiming at forming an alternative government in Uttarakhand. Its primary objective is to demonstrate that the Congress has lost its grip and is fast losing ground. “Whether or not we form the government is not important,” said a senior BJP leader. “What is more important is to show that the Congress is incapable of running a government.”

Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat has been asked to prove his majority on the floor of the assembly on Monday. and if the charges and counter-charges being leveled by the two sides are any indication, it promises to be a messy affair. On Saturday, rebel Congress legislators released a video from a sting operation that allegedly showed Rawat agreeing to a deal to buy back the MLAs who deserted his government.

Failed experiments

Irrespective of what happens, there is some thinking to be done at the top. Ever since he became actively involved in party affairs, Rahul Gandhi’s sole focus has been on ushering in inner-party democracy and ensuring greater say to workers in the organisation. It was at his insistence that internal elections were conducted in the Youth Congress. However, this experiment proved to be a failure as it led to the election of those having access to money and muscle power.

Rahul Gandhi has since been constrained from extending this experiment to the Congress, but his views and ideas on improving the party’s internal functioning have alienated the Congress old guard. His dependence on a small coterie of advisers such as retired bureaucrat K Raju and academic Mohan Gopal, who are said to be “non-political” players, and his tendency to promote “outsiders” like Madhusudan Mistry and Mohan Prakash, have also put off the senior leaders.

As Rahul Gandhi’s team holds sway, the party is abuzz about a new “system” being in place with the promise of more changes in the future. But for many Congress insiders, this new “system” remains a puzzle.