: Opinion: Go for a non-Gandhi president #IndiaNEWS #News By Arun Sinha The Congress is not a sinking ship. It is a ship trapped in a fierce storm. It is taking severe beatings but it is not ripped

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Opinion: Go for a non-Gandhi president #IndiaNEWS #News
By Arun Sinha
The Congress is not a sinking ship. It is a ship trapped in a fierce storm. It is taking severe beatings but it is not ripped apart yet and it is not going down below the surface. It is like a battered Air India waiting for a Tata to take it out of the storm and get it rolling again.
The new captain of the ship can be a Congressman from outside the Gandhi family. Or it can be a reincarnation of Rahul Gandhi, if we can hope for that to happen — a reincarnation in terms of the depth, length and width of engagement with the electorate, the party organisation, the party leaders, young and old.
For the good of the Congress, at the present juncture, it should be led by a Congressman from outside the Gandhi family. He or she can be young or old. Voters do not reject a leader on grounds of age. Modi is past 70. Joe Biden was 78 when Americans chose him as President.
Walking the Talk
The election of Congress president is scheduled for August. Rahul Gandhi should not contest it. At the recent Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, Sonia Gandhi said she, Rahul and Priyanka were ready to resign and make any “sacrifices� for the party as they considered the party more important than individuals. The family must walk the talk. Let them step aside for someone else to take over in August.
Surely, it is not going to be easy for either the family or the party. What kind of person a non-Gandhi president would be? Would he or she be the prime ministerial face of the party? Or would he or she be a person with a great organising ability entrusted only with the task of rejuvenation of the party organisation at the State, district, block and village levels? In other words, would he or she be a Narendra Modi or an Amit Shah? That is the knottiest question both the party and the Gandhis have to resolve.
As far as the Gandhis are concerned, it has long been presumed that even if they let the party elect a president from outside the family, they would not agree to a name but of one who is loyal to them — someone who will be their proxy, not anyone who will pull the party out of their hands. That kind of tactic would not be unusual as Indira Gandhi did the same and even Narendra Modi brought only a wholly loyal Amit Shah as party president. However, though it would not be unusual, it would be unwise for the party.
People’s Perception
The party at this juncture needs a non-Gandhi leader with exceptional organising ability who is not a proxy of the family. That person should be able to engage both the Gandhis and the senior party men (G-23 and others) at equal level in decision making. The emergence of a non-Gandhi Congress president can change the perception of the people about the party and shore up its dwindling support.

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