Many state Congress Committees have been clamouring for new chiefs for years, but even the change in Delhi doesn’t seem to have accelerated the process.
New Delhi: If the Congress is willing to turn its fortunes around and take the fight to the BJP in the states, it isn’t showing any urgency in preparing for the fight.
The party witnessed a change of guard in December 2017, with Rahul Gandhi taking over as national president from mother Sonia. But its state units are still waiting for their own new leaders, as the high command continues to drag its heels. Factional fights continue unabated, and as a result, the new party president looks helpless.
But is he really helpless, considering it has been Rahul who has been deciding on Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents and national-level appointments since he became vice-president in 2013? In fact, on 8 January this year, while addressing overseas Indians in Bahrain, he had promised to deliver a “brand-new” Congress in six months.
Yet, more than a month since his elevation, the new Congress president is yet to announce his new team. “We need a clear picture as soon as possible. The more we delay, the smaller our chances of putting up a fight in crucial elections,” a party general secretary said.
Madhya Pradesh
In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress is really struggling to curb infighting. The party has been out of power for the last 15 years, and could win only two Lok Sabha seats in 2014 (plus a victory in the Ratlam bypoll later).
A replacement for PCC president Arun Yadav, seen as unpopular, has been expected since last year, but even with assembly polls scheduled for later this year, there’s no movement. Jyotiraditya Scindia was expected to be named in April last year, but senior leader Kamal Nath threw his hat in the ring at the eleventh hour, halting the process.
According to Scindia, it would be better “if the party announces a CM face before the election”.
Senior leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi has suggested a compromise formula. “The party should make Scindia its CM candidate, and Kamal Nath the chairman of the campaign committee or PCC president,” he says.
Chhattisgarh
In another poll-bound state, a section of Congress leaders were unhappy with the leadership of Bhupesh Baghel. While Baghel was allowed to continue as PCC chief, Rahul Gandhi changed the leaders around him – with P.L. Punia replacing B.K. Hariprasad as state in-charge, and Ram Dayal Uike and Shiv Kumar Dahariya appointed as working presidents of the PCC on 6 January.
Yet, there’s no end to the infighting, even as senior leaders like former MP Devbrat Singh leaving the party, saying it feels like the Congress “is working to strengthen the BJP”.
According to a Congress MLA who wished to remain anonymous, “the party should remove Baghel and try to bring Ajit Jogi back. For the leadership role, the party should consider Charandas Mahant”.
Haryana
There’s a similar clamour for change in Haryana. For over two years, former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his supporters have been campaigning against PCC president Ashok Tanwar.
In April 2017, Rahul Gandhi had, after a few rethinks, decided on having a non-Jat as PCC chief. But the party is still thinking, even as the list of contenders grows longer with names like Kuldeep Bishnoi, Kiran Chaudhary and Kumari Selja.
Bihar
The Bihar Congress is going through a long spell of uncertainty which started in 2016, just after the party formed the government with its coalition partners JD(U) and RJD. There was a growing clamour for a new PCC president after incumbent Ashok Choudhary became a minister, but he was removed only in September 2017 when found trying to split the party to go with the new JD(U)-BJP alliance. PCC vice-president Kaukab Quadri was asked to take interim charge.
The Congress came close to announcing Bhumihar leader Akhilesh Singh (formerly of the RJD) as PCC chief, but other leaders opposed this. Ranjita Ranjan, Congress MP and wife of strongman and Jan Adhikar Party Loktantrik MP Pappu Yadav, was also considered, but no consensus could be reached.
Now the party is mulling the idea of appointing a senior leader like Madan Mohan Jha or former MP Nikhil Kumar as state chief, with other leaders accommodated in important roles like working presidents.
Odisha
In September last year, a group of leaders from Odisha met Rahul Gandhi in Delhi and requested for a leadership change. The current president, Prasad Harichandan, has not been able to control dissent, and this was the second time such a request was placed in front of Gandhi.
Despite assurances from the high command, the wait of local leaders for a new chief isn’t over.
Former PCC chief Niranjan Patnaik is one name doing the rounds, but party leaders refuse to say anything before an official announcement is made.
“In the Congress, any person whose name comes in the media loses the chance to become the party president,” says a state Congress MLA.
The Congress’s position in Odisha is dire – zero MPs, 16 MLAs, and fast ceding ground to the BJP in last year’s panchayat polls. But there’s no decision on a new leader yet.