Exclusive: Will Rahul Gandhi become Congress president again? We will know by August 28

On August 10, the Central Election Authority (CEA) of the Congress, headed by Madhusudan Mistry, sent a letter to president Sonia Gandhi saying that the CEA was ready with the 9,100-strong electorate to elect the next president of the party. Mistry, in the letter, also recommended that the filing of nomination could begin from August 21 and completed by August 28. Even a week after that letter, Sonia is yet to act on the recommendation. 

Top sources indicate that Sonia has been trying to convince Rahul Gandhi to file his nomination to contest the presidential election of the party, scheduled to be completed by September. The Gandhi scion has so far stuck to the stand he took in 2019, when he resigned as Congress president taking responsibility for the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha polls. In his resignation note, he had said that neither he nor anyone from his family would occupy the top position of the party. 

Senior Congress leaders, however, convinced Sonia to take charge as the interim president of the party. She has been continuing since then as Rahul has not changed his decision yet. Senior Congress leaders collectively made one more effort on August 5 to convince Rahul to reconsider, when they were all together on the streets of the national capital during the protest against the price rise. When Rahul said that it was not the party he wanted to lead, one of them said, “Then make the party you want to lead. Fire all of us. We know you don’t like us.” 

Recently, Rahul has stayed clear of the party’s decision-making process. He was not involved in the recent decision of the Congress to join hands with the JD(U) and RJD to form the government in Bihar. He was also not part of the decision to restructure the Jammu and Kashmir Congress Committee. In the last two weeks, Rahul has met only two colleagues from the Congress—data cell head Praveen Chakravarty and training cell head Sachin Rao. Both are not traditional politicians and had joined the party from corporate backgrounds. 

If Rahul doesn’t contest the polls, the party may witness a contest in more than three decades. Ever since Sonia took charge in 1998, the Congress has not seen any presidential contest. In 2017, Rahul was also elected unopposed. However, if he files the nomination, it could be a repeat of 2017. Many Congress leaders are worried that there could be another unprecedented situation—nobody files the nomination. There is no historical reference to fall back on if that situation arises. 

In 2019, Rahul had categorically stated that none of his family should take charge of the party. It will be interesting to see whether Sonia continues or Priyanka Gandhi comes forward to file a nomination, in case Rahul remains adamant on not contesting the presidential polls. 

What makes the election even more critical is that the party is all set to start the nationwide Bharat Jodo Yatra from September 7. Most leaders expect a new president to kick-start the campaign, but that will depend on what action Sonia takes in next four days.