DNA Exclusive: As Gandhis remain 'reluctant', should Congress finally get a president from outside the family?

For many in the Congress, it must be a déjà vu situation after three years. In July 2019, Rahul Gandhi stepped down as the Congress president in wake of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll rout. A month later, his mother Sonia Gandhi returned to the helm. Her appointment was supposed to be an interim but continued for three years. Three years on, it’s a similar situation when none of the Gandhis seem to be willing to take up the post. 

The Congress is scheduled to elect its next president within the next one month. While Rahul Gandhi has reportedly still not “made up his mind”, Sonia has cited her ailing health to not continue any further. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as an alternative has not gained much traction. With the next Lok Sabha elections less than two years away, the Congress in the August of 2022 is more or less in a similar situation that it was in the August of 2019. 

The conundrum has once again sparked buzz on whether the party could finally see a non-Gandhi president after 23 long years. The last non-Gandhi president was Sitaram Kesari who was unceremoniously removed from office when the leadership decided to anoint Sonia Gandhi in his place in 1999.

Whether a Gandhi or a non-Gandhi, the next party president will have to be an elected one as the process for the election has already been set into motion. The process, which started on August 21, will conclude with the election of the new president by September 20, 2022.

Any front-runners among non-Gandhis?

Among the senior leaders, names of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, party general secretary Mukul Wasnik, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge are doing the rounds. 

The younger lot too is hopeful of being catapulted to the top post. But desertion by young leaders such as Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, Sushmita Deb, RPN Singh, Kuldeep Bishnoi, Ashok Tanwar, Ashok Chowdhary, etc has made party managers wary of betting on young leaders.

In the G-23 rebel group, some of whom have made up with the party leadership, are also likely to throw its hat in the ring by fielding candidates for the posts of president and CWC members.  

Is a non-Gandhi president practically possible?

Having a full-time party president is without a doubt the need of the hour before the Congress finds itself testing electoral waters in over a dozen states ahead of the 2024 battle. 

While having a non-Gandhi president could help the Congress overcome the widespread perception of familism and dynasty politics, it is also likely to create a sense of distrust within the party and may also aggravate factionalism and a hierarchical battle.    

Speaking to DNA India, Rasheed Kidwai, senior journalist and writer of the book "24 Akbar Road", opined that election of a non-Gandhi as the party president “will be a major vote of no-confidence against Rahul Gandhi.” 

“Technically speaking, this non-Gandhi thing is technically very plausible and something which is very good, but it has some technical problem,” he added. 

Kidwai states that the key issue before the party today is about the political leadership which has always been with the Nehru-Gandhi family. 

On whether a non-Gandhi president will be able to pull the party out of the unending crisis situation, renowned journalist Dr Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay tells DNA India: “If it is a free and fair election where anybody is allowed to contest, then I think that is the best that can happen to the Congress. We cannot have any political party which becomes dependent on one individual or one family.”

Sanjay Kumar, Director at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, said the tenure of Gandhi family presidents cannot be compared with non-Gandhi family presidents as there would be stark difference in the quantum of tenures.

"A person from the Gandhi family is both an asset and a liability for the party. The person would be an asset as he/she acts as a glue for the party which keeps the party together. They are also a liability and that liability is coming to the fore more prominently now as the Gandhi family has not been able to inspire voters and leaders of the party," Kumar told. 

He opined that it is going to be very difficult for a non-Gandhi president to function in the prevailing situation as various factions could emerge and the pulls and pressures would be very high.

History contradicts possibility

Experts who have chronicled the country’s oldest party believe that it may be theoretically possible to have a president outside the Nehru-Gandhi family, but not practically.   

The party’s history shows that it has had at least 13 presidents from outside the Nehru-Gandhi clan since Independence as against five from its first family. However, the family members have been at the helm for a much longer period of time as against the others. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have headed the party for the majority of the period since Independence.

Sonia or Rahul?

Talking about the possibilities, Kidwai said that talks are underway within the Congress to persuade Sonia to continue and become a full-time president. 

“In case she contests, she will emerge unopposed and then she can appoint 2-3 working presidents, and that’s where these non-Gandhis will come in the picture and they will be doing the functional thing. In that case, the bonus would be if Ashok Gehlot or Sachin Gehlot is one of them, it will calm down the turmoil within the party in Rajasthan as well,” he told DNA India. 

On the other hand, Dr Mukhopadhyay opines that the organisational polls will become futile if a non-Gandhi, who is “remote-controlled” top leadership, is chosen for the post in case Rahul Gandhi refuses to take it up. 

Some party leaders, who are betting on Sonia’s continuance, believe she should do so in view of the Enforcement Directorate’s aggressive investigation into the National Herald case. 

Speculating on the ED’s next move in hushed tone, a political expert believes that the agency will have to give it a second thought before arresting a sitting Congress president. “That will not be the case if she is a former Congress president,” he said. 

The Gandhis know it all, but remain tight-lipped for now. Whether anyone from the family will be contesting for the coveted post, will decide whether it’s a Gandhi or a non-Gandhi who holds the reigns of the party on road to the big battle in 2024.