(Kumar Ketkar is a senior journalist, political commentator, globe trotter and author. He has covered all Indian elections since 1971 and significant international events. He is a frequent participant on TV debates.)It appears that the media is more interested in the dynastic succession in the Congress party than the so-called dynasty itself. So far, Priyanka Gandhi herself has said nothing specific about her desire to directly enter politics full-time. Her mother, Sonia Gandhi, has merely said that " Priyanka will decide what she will do" when asked about the future. Rahul Gandhi has reportedly told her he would be happy for her to enter politics whenever she is ready.
Party General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi and senior leader Oscar Fernandes have said that Priyanka may play a bigger role in Congress. Almost instantly, the party clarified that the comments about Priyanka by these people were made in their personal capacity.
The speculation about Priyanka actively working for the party, obviously in a top leadership role, has been in the political bazaar for over a decade. Several magazines have put her on their covers, almost announcing her leadership. When Narendra Modi declared his candidature for the Lok Sabha from Varanasi, a leading English daily headlined that Priyanka will take him on. So far, all such speculation has fallen flat. And yet, the media buzz continues.
Indeed, the panel punditry on all TV channels has given her the thumbs up. Some have surely questioned her ability and presumed personal charisma, but by and large there is a consensus that she will be able to "make a difference". The chorus became louder when the media concluded that Rahul was a disaster for the Congress. This was even before the catastrophic collapse of the party in the Lok Sabha elections.
After the election results, the party was so totally demoralized that rank-and-file activists as well as the leaders of the party were looking for a rescue ship. It was like panic on the sinking Titanic. These party leaders and activists had not personally or politically prepared themselves for such a stunning defeat. After all, Sonia Gandhi had brought them to power in 2004 when defeat seemed inevitable.
Similarly, Rajiv Gandhi had brought the party to power in the atmosphere of mayhem and massacre following Indira Gandhi's assassination. Many pundits today pretend as if Rajiv's scintillating victory with 414 seats in the Lok Sabha in 1985 was a bygone conclusion, because of the so called sympathy-wave. But it was not so. In the three months after Mrs Gandhi's murder, most opposition parties held conclaves and created fronts, assuming that an "immature and boyish" Rajiv will not be able to lead the party to victory.
Indeed, that is why Sharad Pawar did not join the main Congress, despite appeals made to him by his friends and followers. Pawar had left the party in 1978 and formed his own outfit, the Samajwadi Congress. There was an effort to form a Third Front with Pawar, George Fernandes, Farooq Abdullah, the CPM, the CPI and other self-styled Left parties. The overall assessment was that the Congress may be the largest party in Lok Sabha, but it could be stopped from forming the government. Despite the bankrupt experience of the Janata Party in 1977, the idea of a non-Congress Third Front had not died. But Rajiv's historic victory frustrated these schemes. Rajiv in 1984 and Sonia in 2004, and of course years before their rise, Indira in 1971, had made the Congress psychologically and politically dependent on the family.
Which is why the party cannot look beyond Priyanka if it wants an option to Rahul. The media has concluded after the pathetic performance of the Congress' 44 seats that neither Sonia nor Rahul can bring back the party to life. Actually, Rahul had come onto the scene at a time when the UPA government was losing its luster and credibility. But the sins of omission and commissions had already become a cross which Rahul was supposed to bear. Rahul's innings had not even begun really when the Modi juggernaut mauled the Grand Old Party of India.
Against this backdrop of frustration and failure, Priyanka's face and persona are an easy buy for the media at least. There was talk of how she resembles Indira Gandhi, that she looks young and modern, has an expressive and smiling face as against Sonia's sometimes grim expression and Rahul's reticence. For the Congress, she lends hope and for the media, she is a story with style.
Whether Priyanka has the grit and resolve that Sonia and Indira have shown is not known. Whether she is a woman of substance or just of speculation is yet to be seen.
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