Priyanka Vadra's charm, feistiness and loyalty would make any mother proud.As admirable as those qualities are, however, they are not enough to equipher for a responsible position in a complex modern organisation such as apolitical party. Unfortunately, even though the last thing a party on theskids needs is more amateurs in powerful positions, many in the Congressparty seem to think otherwise.When they are not keenly promoting Priyanka to head the Youth Congress orthe women's wing, they are pushing Rahul Gandhi to take the reins. SoniaGandhi herself has not shown she is averse to these ideas. It cannot bePriyanka's organisational abilities or vision that have won her so manyadvocates for she has not had a chance to prove she possesses any.It is sheer sycophancy, the habitual posture of Congress politicians whohave no respect for themselves or anyone else. Treating the Youth Congressand women's wing as parking lots shows complete cynicism about those bodiesand their role and purpose. With that sort of attitude prevailing at the topit is small wonder that Congress front organisations have lost touch withthe people and become irrelevant.A decision on what office to give Sonia Gandhi's progeny has beentemporarily postponed either because wiser counsel has prevailed or becausethe Congress chief wants to observe the formalities in order to avoid anychallenge to them. It has been announced there will be no restructuringuntil the so-called introspection committee headed by A.K. Antony hassubmitted its report on the causes of the party's worst poll performance inhistory. Although the report is not likely to put it so baldly, oneconclusion it is bound to draw is that voodoo politics does not work withthe people of India. The Nehru-Gandhi name is no magic mantra which can bechanted to eliminate all sorts of weaknesses in strategy, candidates andplatform.There are certain advantages of course in fielding a Nehru-Gandhi: thesymbolism helps and there is easy name-recall. But as has been seen, thegains are small and not worth the risk of alienating long-serving members ofthe party by denying them their legitimate aspirations. Sharad Pawar wouldhave touched many raw nerves when he joked about the top jobs in theCongress being heavily booked (by the Nehru-Gandhi family). As for how thegeneral public responds, the fact is India has changed rapidly. For a wholenew generation it is the here and now that matters.The young look for those who can produce results, not links with the recentpast. Voters are much more sceptical about poiticians today than in IndiraGandhi's or Rajiv Gandhi's time. So if the Congress is bent on treating theparty as the family jagir and can think of no better way of reviving itselfthan putting its future in the hands of the untested and inexperienced, itshould not be disappointed if the public is unimpressed or surprised whenthere is trouble within.Having the right connections can open doors but if Sonia Gandhi's childrenwant careers in politics they would do well for themselves and for the partyby starting at the bottom like everyone else.
