Why Congress is hesitant about naming Rahul the PM nominee

Most other parties in the poll fray, including newbie AAP, might have zeroed in on a Prime Ministerial candidate prior to the upcoming general elections, but the Congress seems still hesitant about declaring their PM nominee.

Though party Vice President Rahul Gandhi had stoked hopes that an announcement would be made sooner rather than later, after he told Dainik Bhaskar that he is ready to shoulder any responsibility given to him by the Congress, a report on The Economic Times says otherwise. The report, published today, declares that Rahul will not be formally made Congress' PM candidate on 17 January as speculated. Nor is such an announcement set to happen anytime soon.

ET reports:

"Key Congress leaders at senior and critical strategy-making positions in the party told ET, on the condition they not be identified, that "thinking at the highest level" is not in favour of announcing Rahul Gandhi as the PM candidate any time soon. If there's a rethink, these leaders said, it can always be "done later". They also said Priyanka Gandhi playing a larger strategic and planning role is a key part of Congress' 2014 strategy."

Rahul Gandhi. AFP.

While the voting masses and the Internet army of the respective parties might have made the upcoming elections a Narendra Modi versus Rahul Gandhi battle, with Arvind Kejriwal playing a possible spoiler role, the reality is that the Congress is still unsure about formally endorsing the idea of the party being led by Rahul Gandhi.

There might be a handful of conclusions that can be drawn from the party's hesitation in declaring a PM candidate, or declaring Rahul a PM candidate.

With the blustering entry of Kejriwal in the political arena, the criticism against dynastic politics seems to have gained more strength than the Congress had imagined it would with just Modi's hyperbolic rhetoric feeding the public. The triumph of the Aam Aadmi Party has also established that there is a strong voter base for an alternative to the political hegemony of the Congress and BJP. Declaring Rahul Gandhi the Prime Ministerial candidate, prior to the elections, therefore, comes with the risk of confirming the allegations of nepotism being lobbed at the party by the Opposition parties.

Then again, like it has been discussed earlier too, the upcoming elections will be fought with two clear pitches by the BJP and the AAP. With Narendra Modi at the helm of its affairs, the BJP has been trying to make a strong plea to voters to give their brand of politics of development a chance. The AAP, on the other hand, has made its anti-corruption cry their primary pitch. As the incumbent government, the Congress can't successfully use either of these issues to their benefit - the Opposition parties have built an arsenal of allegations based on the party's lukewarm performance in the government over the past decade.

In such a scenario, positioning Rahul as the PM candidate before the elections could turn out to be self goal of sorts. Firstly, given that Gandhi has never held a position in any government, the Congress cannot convincingly counter Modi's development pitch with just Rahul's ideas of governance. Secondly, however much he tries to place himself out of the government and portray himself as an outsider in the ring of politics, the political legacy Rahul belongs to makes his stand look phony at best and hypocritical at worst.

While Rahul might be trying to hint an an internal cleansing of the party which runs the government, his move can also be misread as the lack of unity within. There have already been reports that several state leaders are at a loss when it comes to dealing with the junior Gandhi's new micro-managerial stance. To make sure that the flock stays together, it is important to not declare right away that Rahul will now officially call the shots in the party.

Finally, though Rahul campaigned intensively during the poll bound states last year, the Congress didn't make a big dent in BJP's traditional vote bank in the said states. Rahul's capabilities to completely turn around the fortunes of the party are still redoubtable, as is his mass appeal. So Congress is probably trying to keep Rahul as the most important prop in their election campaign, party endorsing his radical ways of running the party as has now become evident.

Endorsing Rahul completely, will also amount to conceding the fact that Congress party is infested with more than a fair share of corruption, mismanagement and sloth. Given that the voters placed their faith in the same party for ten straight years, that will be a tough reputation to defend and win another election.