Is Priyanka Gandhi ready to wield the baton?
Tuesday, 30/07/2019
https://www.brightpunjabexpress.com/index.php/2019/07/29/is-priyanka-gandhi-ready-to-wield-the-baton/
July 29 : The poignant picture of Priyanka Gandhi crying with the women victims of the Sonbhadra land dispute massacre was a moment of promise for the Congress party. Priyanka’s dash to the spot after the massacre shows that she is an astute politician who knows ‘relevance’ is ‘life’ in the world of politics. Even though she has been accused of playing politics over dead bodies, Priyanka cannot be accused of being ‘ruthless’ in politics where the result matters the most. And if the Congress party chooses to look beyond the existential crises that it is facing at the moment, then Priyanka Gandhi is well prepared to take the mantle of the Congress president. It has always been and still is an unanswered question as to why Priyanka Gandhi, the more charismatic, astute, combative and intelligent of the two siblings has only played the role of an obedient daughter, loving sister, indulging wife, and a doting mother so far. Her political appearances have been more as a prop to attract the public than as a protagonist who holds the centre-stage. Sonia Gandhi’s biographer, Rasheed Kidwai, has an interesting take on this situation. He says that Italian catholic mothers suffer from ‘putra moh’ (preference for the male child), quite akin to their Indian counterparts. This is the reason why, when it came to passing the baton, an indulgent mother chose Rahul over Priyanka, the more worthy successor of the two. Priyanka’s late entry into the battle before the Lok Sabha elections 2019 did her more harm than good. Her enrolment as in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh was meant to be an apprenticeship that came rather too late and it gave her more discredit than win her any praise. A look at Priyanka Gandhi’s political track record shows there isn’t much to give her credit for. She hasn’t had any moment of glory in politics so far except her striking resemblance to her grandmother and her razor sharp political repartee. The fact that Priyanka Gandhi did not contest the elections from Varanasi despite displaying a desire to do so has not gone down well with Congress detractors. She was portrayed as a general who ran away from a battle. However, it has to be admitted that Priyanka has never really been given a fair chance to wield things her way. Even though it has been over a month since the elder Gandhi sibling blinked when the lights turned harsh, the Congress working committee has yet to come to a decision. The Congress Working Committee meeting that would set in motion the process of electing the next president is still awaited. Priyanka is being backed by party veterans such as Captain Amarinder Singh and Shashi Tharoor. Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said that the Congress general secretary would be an ideal candidate to take over the reins of the party. He added that the Congress leader would get all-round support if chosen to take over the reins of the party. Amarinder Singh’s statement in support of Priyanka Gandhi for Congress chief came a day after Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that the Congress general secretary was best suited to lead the party and hoped that she would contest for the presidency. “She has a ‘natural charisma’ which has often prompted many to make comparisons with her grandmother and former party president, the late Indira Gandhi. Priyanka also comes with able organisational experience having been an influential figure at the core of the party for a while now and on the ground in Uttar Pradesh during the last elections,” Captain Amarinder Singh said. It is too early to call Priyanka Gandhi a ‘phoenix’ on whose wings the Congress will rise from the ashes again, but it is sure that if the Congress has any chance to wake from the ‘coma’ that it is presently in, then Priyanka is the only possible cure.
