With Kharge as the party president, Gandhis have ensured that he becomes the fall guy taking the blame for party failures
With the new Congress president being "elected" the congress's political deep cleaning is almost done. And the congress party is at its Machiavellian best. Kharge is no Tharoor, and most Indians wouldn't even look twice if he walked beside them. But maybe that's exactly what the Congress power elite wanted - an unassuming pliable head to absorb the failures, clear the weeds for the Gandhis to grow, and further consolidate power.
Senior leader and mentor to the GandhisDigvijay Singh clearly stated, 'whoever becomes party president will work under the Gandhi family's leadership.' So all and all, Kharge may just be another cog in the Congress machine, a compliant Senapati (general) at best.
Honestly speaking Tharoor with a sharp acumen, international exposure, and ever-growing popularity is the perfect anti-thesis for the BJP. He is highly educated, competes with Modi in international prestige, and even has a country-wide following, especially among the educated youth. When the young people see Tharoor, they see inspiration and hope, while Kharge naturally represents the grand old guard of the congress party and things as usual - Status quo! And Mr. Gandhi's "push-ups" on Twitter won't change that.
Tharoor presents a formidable challenge not just to the RSS, but also to the congress overlords. He was a people's candidate, fighting for the revival of the party, hope, decentralisation, et al. But the people rarely win in a feudal system. By having this "election" the Congress party hit two birds with one stone - they identified the next purge victims and also improved on its media optics. Armed with a decent social media campaign, and a good PR strategy, the Congress is trying to shed the feudal cloak, and reinvent Rahul Gandhi as the people's leader. But Bharat Jodo is little more than veneer, some would say. Groundwork is being done to install Mr Gandhi as PM in 2029-30. In the coming times, those who voted for Tharoor could be pruned. Tharoor's candidacy may have been used by the Congress status quo to draw out dissenters within its ranks and make the machinery more centralised.
But many wouldn't agree, they would point to the 'Bharat JodoYatra' and praise the great things it is doing. I take the Bharat Jodoyatra with a pinch of salt. Kharge winning during the yatra signals that the central leadership has galvanised their cadre in these states and rallied them for Kharge (and also themselves). As a result, Kharge won with a whopping 84.14 per cent vote share. And the people of India, are now numb to scams, corruption, communal violence, liberal ideals, and even a crashing economy and sharp inflation doesn't seem to move their glare from self and community (caste) interest. They may flock to RG for a selfie, but that in no way says how they will vote. Plus congress has another problem, what guarantees can Kharge give there won't be defections after poll results? Karnataka, Gujarat, Goa, et al have murky defection tales.
In the past few years, people criticising Congress have not been wrong on the surface, but at a deeper level, they fail to comprehend the larger vision. Congress is a long-distance marathon runner, whose fate is entwined with India. The BJP and RSS, after 70 years of preparation came into power and are playing the political game like a 100-meter sprinter. After all, what is 10 or 15 years in a life of a party? Nothing in the long run. The RSS spent over 70 in gestation, and now Congress's hibernation period is also getting over.
If Modi comes to power again in the next general election, Modi-style of governance will be institutionalised. The Congress Party can hope to return to power by 2029-2030 and then reap the benefits of Modi's policies and style of 'One leader-One nation' governance.
All said and done, the Congress is patiently waiting for the tide to turn, and in the meanwhile is getting its house in order. Congress party has enough money to last this long winter, and comfortably hibernate, till the time its spring of Indian democracy, and Gandhi's return to use Modi's systems for their ends. Meanwhile, the big funders and Indian oligarchs continue to pump money to both sides, gaining favours, and making deals. Indians shouldn't expect to be free of this corporate-driven one-leader, one-nation scheme. Whether the name is Modi or Gandhi, at this point the power brokers don't care.
(The author writes on agriculture & environment, and is a former Director — Policy & Outreach, National Seed Association of India. The views expressed are personal)