Multiple sub-plots emerge in Congress drama

NEW DELHI: With Rahul Gandhi’s insistence on stepping down as Congress president resembling a ‘great sulk’, there is a palpable sense of chaos and despondency in party circles. Gandhi has, in fact, cut off communication with many leaders.Those Congress members who have been backing Gandhi’s decision suggested that as a ‘compromise formula’ he could become Congress floor leader in the Lok Sabha. These leaders don’t want him to reconsider his resignation offer. However, several others are hinting at multiple subplots in Gandhi’s resignation.“If Rahulji wants to continue as party president he can. If he wants to become only the leader of Congress Parliamentary Party or just Congress floor leader in the Lok Sabha, he can. If that is the wish, there are many young, able and driven leaders such as Randeep Surjewala, Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sushmita Dev who can become the party chief. All of them can even be part of a new collective leadership for launching an energetic fightback,” said a party leader.Talking about the sub-plots, many leaders said the initial effort was to divert the spotlight from Gandhi’s leadership ‘failure’ . But, now, it has acquired a ‘young vs old leaders’ angle, which started with exaggerated reports on Gandhi attacking seniors during the CWC meeting. There is a growing perception that many ‘young’ leaders want Gandhi to rid Congress leadership of the old guard and pack it with his ‘own team’. The reports that Gandhi is seeking a ‘free hand’ has, meanwhile, amused party circles, who claim has already been making experimental decisions and ‘interesting’ appointments with ‘complete freedom’ for many years now. 69551303 Many senior leaders, meanwhile, are displaying detachment, saying Gandhi’s wish has been the command anyway. While some PCC chiefs have forwarded their resignations, the leaders pointed out that being the Congress president, he is empowered to call for resignations. He can even sack or shuffle the AICC or PCC, or get everybody to offer resignations, a la Kamraj, with or without calling a CWC meeting, they said.While the show is only five-day old, many wonder whether it has the potential to surpass the 56-day embarrassment that Congress had to suffer when Gandhi took a ‘break’ in 2015. Meanwhile, Akbar Road, which houses Congress headquarters, remains ‘emotionally inactive’.

from Economic Times http://bit.ly/2JJiKDc
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