The Priyanka factor in Congress

It may appear that the BJP is seeking to divide the Gandhi family following the conclusion of the lacklustre winter session of Parliament.

- PANKAJ VOHRA

Some of the top ministers of the government, have of late, been praising Priyanka for her dignity and conduct, while simultaneously being critical of her brother, Rahul, who also happens to be the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

The strategy may get viewed as an attempt to draw a wedge between the two siblings. To add to the fire, some Congress leaders have jumped into the arena and are demanding that Priyanka should be made the supreme leader and she would also make a very good Prime Minister as and when the time arrives. They forget that Narendra Modi is going nowhere and there is no vacancy for the top position, and the Congress has to go a long way to even think of wresting power from the BJP.

The Rahul-Priyanka alleged differences saga is an old one and has played out multiple times in the power play which often gets witnessed in the grand old party, which shall be celebrating its 141st foundation day on Sunday.

Makhan Lal Fotedar, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi's political adviser, had mentioned emphatically in his book, “The Chinar Leaves” that the former Prime Minister had wanted her granddaughter to inherit her political legacy. Fotedar wrote that on her visit to Kashmir, a few days before she was brutally assassinated by her security guards, Indira Gandhi had mentioned to him, her desire to see her granddaughter in the role of the Prime Minister in the future.