Why Gandhis must retain a say in party affairs
Deccan ChronicleRahul Gandhi has officially signed off as Congress president. According to the BJP's calculations, the Congress would automatically unravel if it is not helmed by Rahul Gandhi or any other family member given how the party is shackled to the Gandhis. There is a lurking fear in the Congress that in its effort to see that the Nehru-Gandhi family is well and truly sent into political oblivion, the BJP would even go to the extent of co-opting the next president of the grand old party, who will obviously not belong to the Gandhi family. By propping up a non-Gandhi, the BJP will not just ensure that the Congress is forced to function as its B-team but will Consequently, the big challenge before the Gandhi family is to guard against its irrelevance even as Rahul Gandhi steps down to make way for a new party president. Though Rahul Gandhi’s Wednesday statement said it would not be correct for him to select his successor as is being suggested by a number of party leaders, there is no doubt that the next Congress president will have the family’s blessings.