A pyrrhic victory

As predicted weeks ahead, the election to the post of Congress president was already decided and the result on October 19 proved it. Even days ahead of polling, it was largely predicted that Mallikarjun Kharge, the late comer would win the contest with a majority of the family loyalists certain to not vote for Sashi Tharoor even if the latter had declared his candidature several weeks ahead of Kharge. Therefore, the results declared on October 19 went along expected lines and confirmed predictions made that the overwhelming majority of the over 9000 family loyalists would vote for the unofficial-official candidate. It may be recalled that the “unofficial” candidate and rank outsider of the loyalist circle, Sashi Tharoor,had already made known his intention to contest by the last week of August. The loyalist-laden delegates from states were hoping to field Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and he was all ready by September 29. However, Gehlot upset the family applecart by insisting that he should be allowed to remain chief minister even after the foregone conclusion that he will be elected as Congress party president. When this was not acceded to by the party high command, since the Gandhis wanted him out of Rajasthan in order to replace him with another family loyalist and bitter foe, Sachin Pilot. This led Gehlot to decline the contest which also threw the party high command in a quandary. To save the situation, another family loyalist Digvijay Singh made known his intention to do battle against Tharoor on behalf of the Gandhis after Gehlot opted out on September 29. Then out of nowhere, the name of Mallikarjun Kharge another die-hard Gandhi loyalist was sounded. Unexpectedly, before filing his nomination, Kharge disclosed “Sonia Gandhi asked me to contest Congress presidential poll” on September 30.That statement itself seemed to confirm Tharoor’s claims that the party has set up an official candidate and expressed serious doubts about the fairness of the poll process. The Congress high command or to be precise, those who are having a stranglehold over the Gandhis, believe that Kharge will be what they needed. He is past his prime at around 80 and has been rewarded for his blind loyalty to the family. Even his Dalit credentials which the inner circle flaunts will hardly do any good if the Punjab experience is anything to go by when Charanjit Channa a Dalit was propped as Punjab chief minister after showing Capt.Amarinder the door. Tharoor is certainly someone who could bring new ideas to the party but lacks rapport with the rank and file of the loyalist-laden committee. Many in the party accept that Tharoor would bring a whiff of fresh air if elected but that would mean being a threat to Rahul. The results may have just opened the Congress to the imminence of change as Tharoor got at least 12% of the votes. Kharge will be taking over on October 26 and it should assure Rahul that he can continue with the Jodo Yatra undisturbed. It has been Rahul’s agenda that those who differed with him are against the party. Rahul’s bizarre prescription for rejuvenating the Congress was that “ Congress needs to have many people who are in to go out, and get many who are out to come in”. Whether Kharge will facilitate the exit and entry policy will be tested in the coming days.