It’s time for the Gandhi scion to rise to the challenge and fill the leadership vacuum in the country
I’ll be upfront about this and I am reasonably sure you’ll agree with me. Deep down, most of us nurture disdain towards those who come to occupy positions of power by virtue of birth. Quite honestly, that has, at least until I started researching this story on Rahul Gandhi, been my stated position. And because there is no other polite way to say it, I’ll say it as it is: Respect for those in power who inherit it, usually comes from the unwashed, illiterate masses that can be manipulated. This, to my mind, is a truth leaders have always acknowledged throughout history. That explains why, as his power grew, Alexander the Great perpetuated the myth that he was sired by the god Jupiter Ammon and not Philip II of Macedon, who incidentally, used prudence as a tool to rule and outgrow the shadow of his father Philip I of Macedon, a paradigm of boundless energy.
Be that as it may, while all of this was happening, Rahul Gandhi was away in the US, attending to his ailing mother, the chairperson of the Congress Party. On his return, he was faced with an explosive situation. The ruling Congress Party, which his mother heads and is fronted by the trusted Manmohan Singh, was in a state of disarray. The Anna Hazare-mounted assault had to be defused through backroom negotiations.
• Consider for a moment, the current mood in the country. Things most certainly don’t look pretty. If things continue to go down this path, there is a chance that a few months down the line, a united Opposition could move a resolution in Parliament for a No Confidence Motion. There are some indicators already that suggest the Opposition is sniffing that potential. These are early days yet, but there is nothing to suggest the possibility can be dismissed entirely either. Factor into the situation that a section of the UPA government led by the Congress is already upset and party watchers believe they may just end up voting against the current government. What makes it easier for them is the fact that the BJP, the main Opposition party, has not put up a prime ministerial candidate. There seems to be a loose consensus that Nitish Kumar could be propped up as a consensus candidate by the Opposition. At least on the face of it, there is no ideological resistance to him as an individual. The only issue there is the North-South divide. But if a majority of parliamentarians from North India rally around him, whether those from the South will also come around is an academic discussion.
Rasheed Kidwai, who has just written a brief history of Congress titled 24 Akbar Road, recounts that in Chhattisgarh, Amit Jogi, son of the former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, managed to get the maximum number of fresh youth enrolled in Chhattisgarh Youth Congress. As a result, he became the obvious choice for the Youth Congress president’s post until Rahul’s intervention ruled him out, as he was facing criminal charges. Similar issues cropped up with Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s son Karti in Tamil Nadu. Even in other states like Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, the eventual winners are directly or indirectly supported by the dominant family in the state Congress.
(This story appears in the 09 September, 2011 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)