While there has been no consensus on who would succeed outgoing president Rahul Gandhi, speculation is rife that Priyanka Gandhi could be the chosen one. Even if for a moment we believe she does take charge, she will be wearing a crown of thorns

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took the lead last week by visiting Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district, where allegedly 10 tribals were gunned down by the village headman over a land dispute. While other Opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) were caught napping, Priyanka went ahead with her gamble even as the police stopped her. She responded by saying that she was visiting the village only to commiserate with the affected families. Thereafter, she spent a night at the Mirzapur State guesthouse, refusing to furnish a bail bond.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh compared her visit to Indira Gandhi’s Belchi visit and tweeted, “Aap ka ye kadam Indiraji ki Belchi yatra ki yaad dilatha hai.  Priyankaji aap sankarsh kare ham sab aap ke saath hai.” He was referring to Indira Gandhi’s big political moment after her defeat in 1977 when she visited Belchi village in Bihar where there was a Dalit massacre. She even rode an elephant to reach the village. Priyanka made similar efforts by refusing to return without meeting the affected families and remained in the front-page news for at least two days.

Priyanka’s visit has created some cheer in the local Congress as her campaign earlier had lost sheen when she could not even get her brother Rahul Gandhi elected from the family pocket borough Amethi. The ‘Brahmastra’, as the party touted her, had misfired. She was lying low until now. But Priyanka has now snatched the first political opportunity with her own Belchi moment. Blaming Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, she held that the shooting was the latest sign of deteriorating law and order in the State.

Priyanka’s visit was part of her Uttar Pradesh strategy. Her goal is the 2022 Assembly polls. Now that she has been made the general secretary in charge of the entire State, she is addressing the important issue of how to build up the party. The Congress’ impact on past elections for decades — barring 2009 — has been largely marginal. Her tweets and her statements targetted against Chief Minister Adityanath are meant to achieve this goal.

At another level, after futile efforts to make Rahul Gandhi withdraw his resignation, the Congress is readying itself for a post-Gandhi phase. With no takers outside the family, will the party choose Priyanka to take the place of her brother? For this, she needs the support of the old guard but seniors are upset at the way Priyanka reacted to the 2019 electoral defeat in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on May 25, where she blamed those in that room for the defeat. According to insiders, Priyanka said, Congress “ke hathyare” are sitting in this room.

This is why there has been a muted response from the old guard. Also, Congress leaders have not pushed her name openly as Rahul Gandhi had said that the party should find someone outside the Nehru-Gandhi family for the position. But now, a lobby for Priyanka led by Congress leaders Sriprakash Jaiswal and Bhakta Charan Das has demanded that she be made the next party president.

While the party is dilly-dallying about Rahul’s successor, insiders say that the problem appears to be that there’s no consensus within the Gandhi family itself. Priyanka is not averse to taking over the party though Sonia Gandhi would like to persuade her son to withdraw his resignation. Moreover, it is not clear what the family will decide.

If chosen as party president, will Priyanka be able to deliver at a time when there is large-scale erosion? This is a difficult time as the party is totally demoralised after the humiliating defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. There is no organisation or second-rung leaders. There is no strategy. She has to spell out what the Congress stands for today. She has to find a new team and also placate the old guard, who are weary of her.

Elections to States like Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana are due in a few months and the party is still ridden with factionalism, groupism and indiscipline.  There are too many issues to be resolved. Moreover, though she is a crowd puller and charismatic, what experience does she have to steer the party during difficult times like these? She has not been tested on her organisational skills nor has she worked at the grassroot level. She became a full-time politician only in the last six months. So she will only be wearing a crown of thorns.

Clamour for Priyanka has gathered steam in recent days after Jaiswal and Das had started it. She may well go on to prove herself at some point in the future, but so far, she has shown none of Indira Gandhi’s political skills. The Uttar Pradesh results have proved that there is no Priyanka magic but her supporters dismiss this by pointing out that she came into the scene too late. Ultimately the party cannot live without the family and the family cannot give up its hold over the party. So they are stuck with each other.

(The writer is a senior political commentator and syndicated columnist)