Bigger role for Rahul Gandhi soon, Digvijaya Singh hints

New Delhi, July 16: Rahul Gandhi seems to have finally agreed to play a larger role in Congress affairs in what can resolve the uncertainty over the party's leadership in the lead-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

This was indicated by Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh who said he was positive that Rahul would soon graduate in organizational affairs. "Hopefully, Rahul will take a more proactive role by September," he told TOI, adding that he was talking about Rahul moving away from his current charge of youth outfits to the mainstream Congress.

Congress sources confirmed that Rahul had agreed to expand his involvement and welcomed the development, saying it would relieve them of the anxiety about who could be leading them into the next elections.

There are indications that Rahul may remain engaged with the organization, though there is no clarity yet on whether it would mean creation of a new post in the organization.

What is clear is that even if Rahul does not become the top boss in AICC, his stepping up to the plate, and away from his current minor charge of youth outfits, would automatically project him for the prime ministership.

Rahul's reluctance has dragged the leadership issue despite the fact that there is little doubt in any mind about who the heir-apparent is. His insistence to be allowed to move at his own pace had compounded the leadership conundrum in the party because a countdown of sorts has already been sounded for the Lok Sabha polls.

While a third term for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is ruled out, Sonia Gandhi's refusal to join the government and, lately, health issues have been nudging party managers to clinch the leadership issue ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Clarity on Congress's mascot leading them into the elections would be welcome considering NDA is grappling with leadership issues which seem far more complicated to resolve in view of the competing claims from saffron GenNext.

Talking to TOI, Singh reasoned that September would be the ideal window for Rahul's move up since the vice-president's election and the monsoon session of Parliament would be over by then. "It (the change) would be best before the winter session," he said.

The Congress general secretary said Rahul had complete backing, in fact urging, of the party ranks. "The majority of Congress workers are waiting for a more proactive role from Rahul in Congress politics," he said.

The indications are likely to heighten anticipation in Congress ranks in the coming days, given that the clamour for Rahul to take centre stage is already growing. Law minister Salman Khurshid's recent remarks that the "party was in waiting time" till Rahul took up a proactive leadership role was privately endorsed by many across party ranks.

The young leader's move to the next level is set to shake up the Congress in style and substance even as it will defy the perception after the rout in UP polls that he would retreat into a shell and further delay his projection in a bigger role.

The transition of sorts in Congress will come when the time has changed from favourable to challenging over the last three years since Rahul was hailed as a youth icon after the Lok Sabha triumph.

While BJP-led NDA can be expected to change its target from Sonia to Rahul in a bid to unsettle him, Digvijay Singh said it did not matter. "Any politician who fears being targeted is not worth being in politics. And Rahul Gandhi is not such a person," he said.

All eyes will then be on how Rahul reconciles the central compulsions of Congress with its regional imperatives to revive the organization.

The obvious challenge will be UP. Since the rout this year, Congress has moved closer to rivals Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party to bail out UPA, a move which seems to undercut Rahul's insistence that "going it alone" was the way forward in the heartland.

West Bengal will be another challenge given Trinamool Congress's eagerness to break away from Congress, while he will be tested severely in coming assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.