The Hindu Business Line : Rahul’s chance to prove himself

Political observers have gone to town in a big way following Mr Rahul Gandhi’s appointment as the Congress General-Secretary. The “I told you so!” school had long been forecasting it as an inevitable denouement of dynastic politics.

Commentaries abound on whether he would make any difference, what new punch he would impart to the functioning of the party, whether this is the first step towards his eventual anointment as the Prime Minister, and so on.

Mr Rahul Gandhi’s mettle has not yet been fully tested, and he flunked in the one test — the last UP election — he faced. He cannot also be said to have captured the imagination of the people or his peers by his parliamentary performance. The post of General-Secretary can be viewed as a sort of apprenticeship giving him a chance to prove himself, especially since youth affairs and the National Students Union of India, of which he would be in charge, exactly fit his age, background and temperament.

If he wished, he could, by summoning single-minded zeal and youthful dynamism, make those two a formidable combination with which to breathe new life into the Congress.

Bold strokes

This needs strategic vision and off-beat thinking. If I were Rahul, I would lose no time in jolting the Congress out of its staleness with a few bold strokes. I give below the main thrusts of such an endeavour.

Youth manifesto: In view of the ‘demographic dividend’ everyone is talking about, a rousing call should be made to the country’s youth to work for clean politics, good governance, duty-conscious citizenship and sustainable and equitable development. There can be no more relevant mission than what Mahatma Gandhi placed before himself and the people — ‘To wipe every tear from every eye’.

Youth corps: The country’s youth is verily an ocean of idealism and energy, which are still untapped. What is wanting is the means of channelling them along directions that will give the nation a pre-eminent status. The constitution of a country-wide youth corps could be such a means.

Ginger groups: First-time legislators in the prime of their lives should be encouraged to form ginger groups to make their presence felt by cleansing politics of criminal elements and ridding public life of ills like corruption and violence. This will also restore the confidence in the working of the Constitutional machinery of a preponderant percentage of people, notably the intelligentsia, who do not vote in the elections out of a sense of alienation and disgust. Their renewed participation in elections will mark a dramatic improvement in the quality and calibre of those elected.

Reaching out: Closer and more frequent face-to-face interactive gatherings of elected representatives and the people will be conducive to greater mutual understanding and accountability.

Each MP, MLA, Councillor, or ward/panchayat member should be required to spend adequate time at stated places at stated intervals with his constituents discussing their grievances and suggestions and following them up with effective action before the next meeting.

Inner-party democracy: The lack of it is a disturbing weakness of the Indian political system, robbing it of its credibility. It should be addressed, principally along two lines: The State units should be given a free hand in chalking out their own approaches and action plans without being made subservient to the so-called High Command. In the selection of candidates for elections, the party members should have a say, by following a process analogous to the primaries in the US.

The country will be watching whether Mr Rahul Gandhi is content to swim with the current or makes of himself a driving force of much-needed change in the nature and content of party politics.

B. S. RAGHAVAN