Rahul aides set to come under fire

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s close advisers may come under attack at the Congress Working Committee meeting that will be held here Monday, soon after the party’s worst performance in a general election after Independence. While party managers set the tone of the meeting by saying “it is a collective responsibility”, in a bid to contain dissent, this line may help several party CMs and PCC chiefs to prolong their stay for some time.
Outgoing minister Kamal Nath toed Rahul Gandhi’s line of filling party posts by internal elections, suggesting on Sunday that CWC members be elected through elections, saying it was time to end the “culture of patronage”.
Late Congress chiefs P.V. Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesri had elections to choose CWC members at AICC plenaries in Tirupati (1992) and Kolkata (1997). But that created major rivals for them, with Arjun Singh and Rajesh Pilot emerging as claimants for the highest posts in the party.
If the CWC undertakes this exercise seriously, it has to ruthlessly identify mistakes in election planning, strategy and campaigning. The BJP wanted to make the election a Narendra Modi vs Rahul Gandhi contest, and the Congress fell right into that trap. The CWC members, who are nominated by chief Sonia Gandhi, are unlikely to attack the Nehru-Gandhi family directly, but may question the role of advisers.
The 2014 polls were fought under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, who was its campaign committee chief though not projected as its PM candidate.