A question of Answers: Time for Rahul, Priyanka 'to speak up'

The two-day Congress chief ministers' conclave in Mt Abu in Rajasthan, which ended on Saturday, followed by the press conference of party president Sonia Gandhi, caused more than a ripple in the media.

It had become apparent that the main opposition party was in an upbeat mood after it had successfully managed to form a coalition government led by the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir and on the eve of the assembly elections in Gujarat, to be held on December 12.

Sonia Gandhi, who was seen as a leader who was not sure of herself and therefore incapable of leading the Congress back to power at the Centre, struck a confident note.

She told the Congress chief ministers that they should provide good governance, and she made it clear that her party would join hands with other parties to defeat the communal forces led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Congress leaders are happy that their leader had found her voice, and they are now willing to follow her lead.

Sonia Gandhi was also candid about the entry of her son, Rahul Gandhi, and daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, into active politics.

At the press conference on Saturday, she took the question head on, and said that both Rahul and Priyanka are grown-up people, and that whether they want to enter politics or not is a decision they will have to make on their own.

But it has triggered speculation that Rahul Gandhi may be made the chief of the Congress Seva Dal, an auxiliary body of the party.

Neither Rahul nor Priyanka can take the route of entering the party through Youth Congress because they are a little too old for that. Rahul is 32, and Priyanka 29.

Anil Shastri, senior leader and member of the Congress media cell, spoke to Gulf News about the new mood in the party, and about the prospects of the entry of Rahul and Priyanka into the party.

Shastri told Gulf News that Rahul and Priyanka were already providing political inputs and that it is time that they gave the inputs overtly. This is a clear indication that both Rahul and Priyanka are not averse to entering politics.

Anil Shastri is the younger son of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. His elder brother, Sunil Shastri, is the general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Excerpts from the interview:

After the Mt Abu conclave, the party seems to be in an upbeat mood. Is there more confidence than before?
Yes. Both the conclave and the press conference of party president Sonia Gandhi showed that we are looking confidently into the future. Congress has demonstrated that it excels in good governance. It is something that people want, and they know that Congress can provide it.

Do the starvation deaths in Rajasthan - a Congress-ruled state - spoil the picture?
Not at all. We are going to tackle the issue in the state. And as the party president revealed in the press conference, the Centre is not helping the state government at this critical juncture. When the state government asked for 5.6 million metric tonnes of foodgrains, all that the Central Government released was 0.2 million metric tonnes.

Has the party shifted its stance over coalitions? At the party conclave held in Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh in 1998, Congress party said that it would not go in for coalitions. At Mt Abu, it has decided to go in for coalitions.
There is really no change in the line the party had adopted at Pachmarhi four years ago. Where we can win the election on our own, we will go it alone. But if we find the situation requires that we join hands with other like-minded parties, then we will have no hesitation in doing so.

The Congress is already running coalition governments in Kerala, Pondicherry, Mizoram, Maharashtra. In Jammu and Kashmir, though we had a greater number of seats, party president Sonia Gandhi showed magnanimity in letting the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to lead the coalition.

In Gujarat, the party is in a strong position, but we will share some seats with other friendly parties.

What is the party's position in Uttar Pradesh where a political crisis is brewing?
As party president has made clear, Congress is not in the game of toppling governments. We strongly believe in the norm laid down by the Sarkaria Commission (a commission which set up Indira Gandhi in the early 1980s to review Centre-state relations) that the strength of the parties should be tested on the floor of the legislature.

We strongly believe that the Uttar Pradesh governor should convene a session of the Assembly.

The melee over the Rajya Sabha (upper house of the Indian parliament) where members are elected by the state legislatures, the elections in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh shows that the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party-BJP coalition has lost the confidence of the assembly and the coalition does not enjoy a majority. If there is a no confidence motion in the UP assembly, Congress will vote against the government.

Is there a lot of expectation in the party about the entry of Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi into active politics?
The party workers are very much enthused about the prospect. But you have to remember that it is a decision that Rahul and Priyanka have to take on their own.

I believe that they are heir to one of the great political legacies of the country. They belong to the family of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. They have been born into politics. They breathe politics.

Do you think that their entry will change the party?
Yes. Though I have no definite information, they are giving their political inputs covertly. It is time they gave their inputs overtly.