Author: Seema Mustafa
Publication: The Asian Age
Date: February 8, 2006
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has acquired a towering
profile within the party after the AICC plenary session which formally accepted
him as the next leader of the party. Congress leaders treat him with the same
reverence as they do Congress president Sonia Gandhi, with questions about
the young scion being met with evasive answers and "let's change the
subject" looks. The fact that he is abroad at present is being treated
by the party as a state secret, despite media speculation that he is in Brazil
to attend a UNAIDS conference.
Mr Rahul Gandhi, Congressmen have learnt to
their peril, cannot be ignored. Panchayati raj minister Mani Shankar Aiyar
was divested of his petroleum portfolio without warning in the first Cabinet
reshuffle since the party came to power, with Congress MPs insisting that
one of the reasons was his initial "refusal" to entertain a request
from the Amethi MP. Mr Rahul Gandhi had written to Mr Aiyar, then petroleum
minister, asking that a national petroleum training institute be set up in
his constituency. He did not receive an immediate reply and had to send a
reminder for this project.
Mr Aiyar, who incidentally also did not collect
funds for the party as apparently senior leaders wanted him to, responded
to the second letter by pointing out the reasons why such a project would
not be feasible in Amethi. He did not hear from Mr Rahul Gandhi again, and
it was Congress president Sonia Gandhi who picked up the pen to write a long
missive asking the minister to look into the matter immediately. Congress
leaders said that this was a clearcut directive that could not be ignored.
Mr Aiyar went rushing to Uttar Pradesh to clear the details with chief minister
Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Mrs Sonia Gandhi herself laid the foundation stone
for what became the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology.
Mr Aiyar, said the Congress sources, obviously
thought that he had survived the storm but the high-profile petroleum ministry
was taken away in the reshuffle without any prior warning through what was
clearly projected as a joint decision by both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
and Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Congress ministers have drawn their own lessons from
this and are not likely to quote feasibility reports if Mr Rahul Gandhi wants
anything to be done. Although there are several reasons, including the Iran
gas pipeline issue, being cited within the party for Mr Aiyar's demotion,
it is the Amethi project that appears to have created the most waves.
Mr Rahul Gandhi was the first to set the anti-Mulayam
agenda in Uttar Pradesh shortly after the UPA came to power. The party, which
was a little surprised with this, was soon told by Mrs Sonia Gandhi to "follow
the line" and from then on relations between the Congress Party and the
Samajwadi Party have remained strained. Congress leaders who have been given
charge of the state in quick succession have not had the courage to mend fences.
Sources said that Mr Rahul Gandhi is keen to revive the party in UP, but not
very clear about how this will be done. Mrs Sonia Gandhi has also shared similar
views with party leaders, pointing out that a strategy for revival has still
to be worked out.
There is a growing realisation within the
party that the entry of the younger MPs into the party organisation is linked
to Mr Rahul Gandhi himself taking the plunge. Congress leaders who have been
waiting for the induction of "young blood" into the party organisation
since the last Lok Sabha elections have now realised that this will not happen
until the MP from Amethi decides to join the AICC or the government. Mr Sachin
Pilot, Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia, Mr Jitin Prasada and Mr Milind Deora are now
resigned to a long wait. Delhi leader Ajay Maken's state government experience
and public opposition to chief minister Sheila Dikshit has opened the minister
of state position for him, although he is considered "young" and
calls Mr Rahul Gandhi "sir."
