Once again there is speculation whether Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will come to active politics or not. This ‘will she, won’t she’ question is dogging the Congress, which is presently facing an existential crisis. No one should be surprised at Priyanka’s entry as it had always been held that she would join politics at some time or the other. That ‘some time’ has come now. The only question is will the dynastic face click?
The Gandhi family has always held Priyanka as the trump card. It is clear that Rahul Gandhi has not clicked even after 14 years because he is not keen on a 24/7 job, did not prove to be a vote catcher and could not find any solution to arrest the party’s decline. She might perhaps be fielded out of desperation now.
The million dollar question is can Priyanka help in reviving the Congress? For now there is only talk of her stepping out of her family pocket-boroughs – Amethi and Raebareli- and campaign for the party in the rest of Uttar Pradesh which is going for polls early next year. The Congress is number four or five in UP and had not had a chance to rule the state after 1989. In 2012 Assembly polls it came a cropper and in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls the Congress managed to get just Sonia and Rahul Gandhi’s seats.
When Prashant Kishor, touted to be the man behind the success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2014) and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar (2015) was engaged by the Congress as its strategist for Punjab and UP polls, he had suggested a Brahmin face as chief ministerial candidate for UP- either Priyanka Gandhi or former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit. Among all social groups, the Congress polls the highest percentage of votes from the Brahmins even now. Hence, the talk of Priyanka. There is urgency for these decisions as the polls are just a few months away.
Insiders predict that in all probability Priyanka might take a direct plunge into electoral politics in the 2019 general elections and, as a first step, aggressively campaign across Uttar Pradesh in next year’s Assembly elections. A large part of her decision is also personal. The BJP’s relentless attacks on her husband Robert Vadra accusing him of financial wrongdoings also may have forced her to take the plunge.
Whether it’s her lineage or her connect with the people, Priyanka seems the ideal choice for the Congress, as per party insiders who feel it will help cement the family’s primacy in the party and also energise the rank and file, most of whom have greater faith in her pugnaciousness than her brother Rahul.
She has seen politics discussed at the dining table since her childhood. A mother of two, she has always held that she prefers to bring up her children and look after the family than get into active politics till now. Besides, she also has the distinct style of personalised campaigning.
She has many plus points as she has a clean slate and comes from the Nehru- Gandhi dynasty. She is young, pretty, connects with people and represents today’s youth. She might have no challengers in the party. She looks like Indira Gandhi. She is TV savvy, can charm the media and is articulate. She is good in Hindi and can be a match to the BJP orators.
The minus points are also many. Her husband Vadra is her biggest baggage. Secondly, she has had no experience in hardcore politics and so far only indulged in backroom politics. She had not even been active in social issues. Thirdly, she is untested and untried. All that we have seen of her is the occasional sound bites she provides on her forays into Amethi and Raebareli. Fourthly, there is no statistical proof she is the vote catcher. Fourthly, the Kishor strategy is a gamble. He had a winner on hand when he strategised for ‘brand Modi’ in 2014, and a tried-and-tested product in ‘brand Nitish’ in 2015.
Fifthly, it is doubtful whether this dynastic card will work in the present day atmosphere when the voters are aspirational and invoking the family may not work. If the gamble fails the family has no other card to play. Sixthly, it is not clear what will be Priyanka’s role in the party. As it is there are two poles in the Congress and she will become a third pole for the disgruntled elements in the party. Lastly, is it too little too late to bring her now? How can anyone expect her to deliver with actually no organisation in the state and no time to build it?
But despite all these, Priyanka may become a game changer if she could energise the party. What the party needs is a new face, new vision, new ideas and new strategy. The family considers today’s India to be the India of 70s and 80s and is frozen in that period. Prashant Kishor is depending on ‘face plus base’ strategy and hopes a pairing of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka can help the party. Only time will tell whether Priyanka will be a game changer. After all the 130 year-Grand Old Party cannot be wished away. Also, the party shall also have an alternative if Rahul fails to steer through the party. In case she fails, it will not cast any shadow over Rahul Gandhi.
