Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi
With his elevation as Congress president a mere formality, Rahul Gandhi faces an uphill task of infusing fresh energy into the 132-year-old organisation that has been reeling under a series of electoral losses.
The green shoots of revival are already visible in Gujarat, where the Congress is putting up a fight to the BJP in the Assembly elections - an act considered normal but, as some party leaders admit, unthinkable six months ago.
Eye on Karnataka
"Six months ago, we never thought the Congress would put up such a big fight against the BJP in Narendra Modi's home state. Now, whatever be the result in Gujarat, Rahul has to plan the next battle to retain Karnataka," a senior Congress leader said.
The Central Election Authority scrutinised the nomination papers filed for the election of Congress president on Tuesday and found all of them to be in order. "There is now only one validly nominated candidate, ie Rahul Gandhi, left in the fray for the election of Congress president," Returning Officer for the election Mullapally Ramachandran said here.
The 47-year-old Rahul is expected to be declared elected as Congress president at 3 pm on December 11, the last day of withdrawal of nomination.
With Rahul set to be firmly in the saddle by next week, Congress leaders now want him to focus on organisation building, recasting the Congress Working Committee - the top decision-making body of the party - and also to ensure there are no ruffled feathers in the process.
Youth and experience
Rahul had already indicated that his team in the party will comprise a mix of youth and experience and the same has reflected in the organisational appointments in the last few months. Veterans Sushilkumar Shinde, Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath have been drafted for organisational roles, as also the young brigade such as K C Venugopal, Rajeev Satav, Sushmita Dev, R P N Singh among others.
Young leaders such as Milind Deora, Meenakshi Natarajan, Jitendra Singh, K Raju and Manish Tewari are being talked about for organisational responsibilities.
Congress leaders argue that the fact that Rahul had brought the party in a close fight in Gujarat elections could spring up a surprise which could add fresh momentum to the new presidency.
Rahul's next task would be to maintain the momentum and try to retain Karnataka, aim to upset the BJP in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and set the tone for Lok Sabha elections in 2019.