Kalpajit Saikia
(kalpajitsaikia@gmail.com)
When asked about the role of the Gandhis in the Congress party after the election of a new president, one of the motormouth family-loyalist spokespersons declared that Gandhis will be their leader irrespective of whoever becomes Congress president. According to him, Congress president and the leader of the Congress are two different positions. He cited few examples from the history of the party. Though Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of the Congress party, he was a president only for a year in 1924. Though Jawaharlal Nehru was the supreme leader of the Congress party for more than two decades, he was president only for a total of 6 terms. He emphatically announced that Gandhis were, are and will be their supreme leader.
In the Congress party, the position of the leader is exclusively reserved for the members of one family. Anyone can be a president of the party as long as he is not a leader. But as there is still an (s)election for the position, it is important to understand the qualities required to be a Congress president. If one analyses all the required qualities, it will be abundantly clear that no-one better than Mallikarjun Kharge can be the right choice for the position.
The most important quality a Congress president needs to possess is his unquestionable loyalty to the family (party). Time and again Mr Kharge has demonstrated this trait. In his political career spanning 60 years, there was never even an iota of disgruntlement, objection, or sulking. When he was overlooked for the Chief Minister's position in 1999, there was nothing but absolute silence from him. Absolute loyalty to the Gandhis is the primary quality required in the Congress president and Mallikarjun Kharge is expected to perform very well in that department.
Mr Kharge scores high when it comes to his age. Normally, political parties want to have a young and energetic president. But things are different in case of the grand old party. Congress party needs someone old enough not to have any political aspiration that may conflict with the interest of the Gandhis. In his heyday, Mallikarjun Kharge was a strong spirited and energetic politician. But not anymore at the age of 80. In a telephonic talk with journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, Mr Kharge expressed the physical difficultly he faced while taking a relatively simple trip from Gulbarga to Jaipur during the infamous revolt by the Rajasthan MLAs. A person of his profile would be in the 'margdarshak mandal' of BJP but can be an ideal choice for the president of Congress party. The family needs someone who is interested to spend more time with his grandchildren than party affairs.
Someone with no political base and mass appeal is an ideal choice for the Congress president. Let alone the country, Mr Kharge's political base in Karnataka itself is diminished. He has no followers in the AICC or CWC. His primary standing in the party is that of MsGandhi's confidante. A Congress president who depends heavily on the family for the tiniest action is definitely the right choice to be the president.
But it's not that Mr Kharge has no aspiration. He has one, political growth of his son Priyank. He knows very well that if his son needs to grow in the complicated political battleground of Karnataka Congress dominated by the masters of the game Siddaramaiah and DK Sivakumar, he will need the high command's support. The high command also knows that as long as Mr Kharge is dependent on them to progress the political career of his son, he will refrain from any expensive political maneuver. Isn't this the ideal situation for both? Can there be anyone else better suited to be the Congress president than Mr Kharge?
Though not the most important qualification, being a Dalit also works as an advantage for Mr Kharge. When the primary political opponent plays with the symbolism of nominating a Dalit President of the country followed by a tribal, there is a need of symbolism for the Congress party also. But this is only a 'good to have' qualification. This qualification is strictly subject to fulfilling all the other requirements mentioned above.
Now if the opponent in the so-called contest was a heavyweight politician, Mr Kharge's name needed reconsideration. But Shashi Tharoor is as alien as his English to most of the delegates of the party. While there is all the indication that Mr Tharoor is contesting with the blessing of the matriarch just to demonstrate the democratic spirit of the party and with a clear intent to lose, the family won't have taken any risk if there was a career charismatic politician instead of Tharoor in the fray.
To summarize, the Congress president must be a person with limited oratory skill, non-charismatic, soft-spoken, non-aggressive and without strong political base. Someone who leaves the management of the party and all the power that comes along with it to the family. Someone who is ready to take the responsibility of all the failures, but not credit for any success. Someone who doesn't feel humiliated when the member of the Gandhi family reverses any decision taken by him. Someone who is fine with the fact that despite being at the helm of the grand old party, he cannot exercise his powers without the consent and approval of the family.
Mallikarjun Kharge had been an extremely disciplined soldier of the Congress party and a highly efficient administrator. His contribution to the Karnataka Congress is immense. He was elected eight times to the Legislative Assembly and two times to the Lok Sabha. He was one of the most successful ministers Karnataka had. Be it land reforms as revenue minister or management of the kidnap of Dr Rajkumar by Veerappan as Home minister, he demonstrated amazing administrative skills. It is sad that these are not the qualities which are propelling him to the highest chair of the party he served for so long.
Talking about the democratic process of electing the party chief, less said the better. It's better to have someone from the Gandhi family as a permanent president of the party. That way at least the power and responsibility will be with one individual. It is only in the democratic tradition of the Congress party where the winner is known long before the election.