Is Priyanka Gandhi Vadra the talisman the Congress needs to survive?

PGV, who is adored by the Congress cadre, was fondly called the “Brahmastra” (ultimate weapon) of the party. Well, the weapon was deployed by the party this time, and if you go by the electoral arithmetic, it proved to be a dud.

But more objectively PGV was deployed very late and her natural desire not to overshadow her brother ensured that she never quite came into her own. For example, instead of toiling fruitlessly in the impervious climes of Uttar Pradesh -- a Gandhi family obsession -- she could have been deployed across the country as a star campaigner of the Congress.

Her formal launch into politics was casually announced by her brother when she was abroad. Do you really, in the Narendra Modi era where everything is a carefully curated photo opportunity choreographed to perfection, handle your star turn so casually?

Worse, the on again, off again speculation set off by PGV herself that she would contest against Modi in Varanasi damaged her political credibility in a humongous way. The damp squib of chickening out was announced the day Modi conducted a massive show of strength in Varanasi.

It almost seemed like the Congress was giving a helping hand to the BJP. The Congress must understand that politics in India has changed -- it is either go big like Modi or go home.

Voters were never taken into confidence about why PGV wanted to contest and the reasons why she did not. If she had followed her political instincts and contested against Modi, she would have added to her political spurs. The perception that she is a seasonal politician would have gone and a loss would still have been glorious. Winning and losing are part of the political game, chickening is considered cowardice.

PGV, who has an easy charm and is a very confident public speaker unlike her brother, has to decide that if she is serious about politics and defeating the BJP, then she has to shed her current diffidence.

If her mother and brother were trying to shield her from a public loss that happened anyway as the party lost all the seats in her beat.

Crisis in Congress

The Congress currently faces an existential crisis. Rahul Gandhi, who has offered to quit as party president, is giving the Congress no clarity on whether he is serious and adamant about his resignation and what kind of succession plan he has in mind.

The party is imploding as Gandhi dithers. All that he said on May 25, the day he offered to quit, is that he does not want anyone from his family to succeed him.

Both his sibling and his mother are adamant that he not quit. But both have to stop viewing Gandhi quitting from a family prism. Gandhi has led the party to two general election defeats on the trot and it is unfair to expect him to continue.

PGV needs to use her sharp political instincts to hold the party together, crack the whip and ensure that the Congress does not become history.

Ruling her out of contention as her brother did makes no sense. As the Congress party is poised to vanish, why not give Priyanka a chance? Senior Congress leaders who I spoke to for this SWAT analysis feel that if Rahul is adamant then PGV may work. They say if any other leader is made president, the current infighting gripping the Congress will look like a picnic as leaders start to attack each other.

With Sonia Gandhi having ignored her son’s desire and has become the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party, it is time for PGV to take a political call.

She has been a dutiful daughter, wife and mother. It’s time to step out and save the Congress party.

After all the fifth generation of the Gandhi family will not like to go down in history as the ones who destroyed the party.

India needs a real Opposition and the Congress party should provide it.