A Congress cliche

Sonia Gandhi's long-awaited reorganisation of the AICC secretariat is more notable for the leaders it has excluded and retained than for ...

Sonia Gandhi8217;s long-awaited reorganisation of the AICC secretariat is more notable for the leaders it has excluded and retained than for those it has included.

At the end of the day, it is the lone leader who stood by Sitaram Kesri when he was removed as party chief who has been given the marching orders. Ironically, Tariq Anwar was general secretary in charge of the state, Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress scored its most surprising victory in the recent elections. He also happens to be a young Muslims leader from Bihar, where the Congress has to stage a comeback if it hopes to come to power at the Centre.

Though Anwar is a comparative lightweight compared to Ghulam Nabi Azad, his exclusion has sent a signal that for all the wideranging consultations Sonia Gandhi has been holding, the party still values subservience.

The retention of R.K.Dhawan was a last-minute development, and shows that Gandhi is far more pragmatic than her late husband. She has demonstrated that she can afford to be daring onpolicy issues, like 33 per cent reservation to women, but is reluctant to take a radical position about individuals for she knows that she has to move through them.

Besides the information he has on the Gandhi-Nehru family, with whom he has worked since the Indira Gandhi days, Dhawan has over the years built up a network of relationships who can influence the family.

Azad, the eternal survivor who was party general secretary with Rajiv Gandhi, P.V. Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesri, is back again. Sonia Gandhi had managed to keep him at an arm8217;s length. Whether he swung the coveted post with the help of powerful Muslim lobbies that support him or the access he has to 10, Janpath, she finally gave in.

If there was near certainty about one thing this time, it was about the appointment of Mohsina Kidwai as general secretary. Mohsina was out the moment Azad was in. In the given climate, two Muslims would have attracted criticism since Ahmed Patel is also there as party treasurer. The choice of Ambika Soni isa redeeming feature of the new AICC as she is known to have brought drive to her role as President of the Mahila Morcha and as PCC chief in Punjab. Her appointment shows that Sonia is also looking for dynamism.The list initially prepared by R.D. Pradhan, withheld for a couple of days as pressures built up, also contained the name of P.A.Sangma for general secretary. It is learnt that Sangma turned down the offer.

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Pranab Mukherjee was also a last-minute inclusion, probably to give weight to the team. Though Mukherjee has not been an officebearer of the AICC, the post is a comedown for the leader who made and unmade general secretaries during the Indira Gandhi era and was a member of the Congress Working Committee and of the party8217;s powerful Parliamentary Board. His 8220;elevation8221; is however a signal that he may be renominated to the Rajya Sabha later this year when his term comes to an end.

Sushil Kumar Shinde, who is also a 8220;new8221; general secretary, held the same position during Narasimha Rao8217;sstewardship of the Congress. If so many of the old faces had to be retained, it is not clear why Gandhi felt compelled to 8220;recast8221; the AICC at this stage.

After all, she has initiated the process for organisational elections to be held by August 31,1999. Nor have the states allocated to Dhawan and Azad, for instance, been changed.

The new team neither carries Sonia8217;s stamp, nor promises a new direction to the party. On the other hand, it reinforces apprehensions that she will not be able to break free of the established interests when it comes to governance.

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This has come as a disappointment to partymen, given the new ground Gandhi has tried to break in recent weeks.

Her visit to the Valmiki colony in Delhi, where Mahatma Gandhi took momentous decisions, was a new way of observing Gandhi8217;s martyrdom and identifying with the dalits, instead of the routine visits to Rajghat or to Birla House that are usually made on that day.

In the same vein, the party is planning next week to send athree-member team, led by Pranab Mukherji, to Noakhali ashram in Bangladesh where Gandhiji tried to quell the communal riots triggered off by the Partition, the idea being to underscore the party8217;s Gandhian legacy. The delegation will present books on Gandhi to the ashram and will be guests of the Bangladesh President Sheikh Hasina. The Congress is also despatching another delegation,led by Balram Jakhar, to Pakistan later this month. Last month such a team visited South Africa. With a new millennium around the corner and the Congress on the upswing, Sonia Gandhi was expected to bring new blood into the party, and she herself has been emphasising the need for those between 40-50 years to take greater responsibility.

There is no dearth of names of those who might have brought a new look to the organisation but who have so far not held positions in the AICC.The Congress President has missed a golden opportunity. This was the first major decision she made after she was given carte blanche at Talkatora gardensto reconstitute the party bodies.