NEW DELHI, 25 September 2007 — The Congress party finally appointed Rahul Gandhi as one of its general secretaries yesterday, signaling possible midterm elections. First-time legislator from Amethi and the son of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Rahul has also been inducted into the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which has the top party brass including his mother and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He has been handed charge of the Youth Congress and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI).
As jubilant supporters celebrated news of Rahul’s appointment by beating drums, waving posters and bursting fire crackers, Congress leader Oscar Fernandes said: “Rahul’s leadership right now is very important and it will lead the country into the next era.”
The announcement about the appointment of 12 general secretaries was made by Congress media in-charge Janardhan Dwivedi at a news conference. The other general secretaries are: Motilal Vora, Ashok Gehlot, B.K. Hariprasad, Digvijay Singh, Kishore Chandra Deo, Mukul Wasnik, Margaret Alva, Mohsina Kidwai, Prithviraj Chavan, V. Narayansami and Janardhan Dwivedi.
The CWC now includes, among others, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, A.K. Antony, Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni, Arjun Singh, Ashok Gehlot, Janardhan Dwivedi, Margaret Alva, Prithviraj Chavan and Rahul Gandhi.
Legislators Priya Dutt, Jiten Prasad and Rajiv Shukla were appointed secretaries.
Sonia also created a new cell called “Group to look into future challenges,” with Jairam Ramesh as its convener and members including Rahul, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sandeep Dikshit and Sachin Pilot.
Other major changes include the appointment of four new state presidents. Rita Bahuguna (daughter of late Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna) has replaced Salman Khursheed in Uttar Pradesh. In Punjab, former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal replaces Shamsher Singh Dullo, while in Rajasthan C.P. Joshi takes the place of B.D. Kalla and in Uttarakhand Yashpal Arya takes charge from Harish Rawat.
With midterm elections imminent, the party opted for this major reshuffle. Viewing Rahul as their potential leader and future prime minister, Congress leaders have been demanding that he be appointed general secretary.
Rahul himself announced in the party’s plenary in Hyderabad last year about his being prepared to play an active role in the organization if the leadership decided. Rahul’s father, Rajv, was made the party general secretary in the 1980s and became the prime minister after the assassination of his mother Indira Gandhi.
Politically, except for his being elected from Amethi, Rahul does not have much success to speak of. Though he led the campaign in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Congress did not gain from this move. Rather, as stated by poll analysts, the party vote share fell from 8.9 percent in 2002 (26 seats) to 8.6 percent (22 seats). However, senior party leaders projected his UP campaign as one that made him come to grips with the country’s politics, the learning ground essential for his entry into the national stage.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) described Rahul’s promotion in party ranks as “dynastic rule” and said that this bore little importance for their party.
