New Delhi:
The Congress today formally started the process of a post-mortem of the Lok Sabha poll rout with senior party leader AK Antony meeting with former Congress MPs from Delhi to find out what went wrong for them in the elections.
But unlike previous occasions when such exercise merely resulted in Antony committee reports, the Congress is in a mood for some action this time around. Jobs of three Congress Chief Ministers are at stake, that of Maharashtra, Assam and Haryana. Apart from poll performance, the immediate worry for the Congress is quelling the rebellion in its ranks in these states.
So, since Friday evening, the Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has already met with AK Antony and Ahmed Patel, the two leaders deputed by the Congress to talk to ally and NCP chief, Sharad Pawar on the issue of change of guard. Mr Chavan in the evening also met Congress President Sonia Gandhi for nearly 30 minutes.
Even though the NCP's preference is senior Congress leader Shushil Kumar Shinde, the Congress has deputed Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mr Antony to talk about leadership change with Maharashtra MLAs next week.
Haryana's Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who's also facing dissidents, called on Mrs Gandhi this morning. But sources say among the three chief ministers, Mr Hooda seems to be in the safest zone. "All I can say is that the Congress in-charge for Haryana has made it clear that there is going to be no change of guard in our state," said Ashok Tanwar, the chief of the Congress' Haryana unit. So, why are seniors in the party repeatedly want Mr Hooda removed? "Despite the wave, I managed to win Rohtak. In so far as comments of my seniors are concerned, I would not like to comment," responded Deepender Hooda, Congress MP and the Chief Minister's son.
The party has also done a U-turn on Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. After asking him to continue, the party will now send observers to talk to dissident MLAs.
The anti-Gogoi camp, led by the state education minister, Himanta Biswa Sharma, claim they have more than 45 MLAs with them out of Congress' total of 78 in the assembly. So, even though Rahul Gandhi backed Mr Gogoi earlier, the possibility of a split in Assam has forced a rethink.
Asked for a response at a press conference, Mr Gogoi said, "On whether I am being replaced, I won't say yes or no. All depends on the High Command."
The Congress is looking at three states simultaneously on the issue of a leadership change. But the party can't have a one-size-fits-all approach. Maharashtra and Haryana barely have three to four months before assembly elections. Will changing the Chief Ministers make any impact? On the other hand, in Assam, elections are almost two years away but the big question is: can the Congress party find a replacement who can match Mr Gogoi's stature?