Congress' Raipur plenary session reduced to a Gandhi family-centric show

Leaders kept up the party's tradition in sycophancy for the Gandhi family, ev even as the party faces its worst crises.

- AJIT MAINDOLA

The plenary session in Chhattisgarh's Nava Raipur was notable for its obsession with more of the Gandhi "mystique" than any ideas for reviving the organisation. The conclusion that the leaders seem to have reached there was that the slogans "Sonia Gandhi Zindabad", "Rahul Gandhi Zindabad" and "Priyanka Gandhi Zindabad" will alone fetch power for the Congress. The leaders seem to be under the impression that Sonia's "sacrifice", Rahul's "Bharat Jodo Yatra" and Priyanka's "Indira-like image" are sufficient to ensure the party's victory in elections. All the leaders who spoke during the session made it a point to keep up the Congress tradition in sycophancy for the Gandhis. The main attraction was that tonnes of rose petals were scattered on the road to welcome general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at Raipur. This type of grand welcome for any leader was seen for the first time in Congress' history. Several interpretations are being made about this 'welcome style' in the Congress circles. Mallikarjuna Kharge, who is the first non-Gandhi leader to be Congress president after 24 years, demonstrated loyalty to the family. Politically experienced leader Kharge knows that it is a challenge to maintain balance in relations with the three Gandhi family members. So he preferred not to float any new idea for the organisation. Nothing new was expected from the session either. But the workers looked disappointed at the end of the session. In fact, they were expecting the party to come up with some new strategy in view of the crisis that the Congress is facing presently. Sonia's speech was just the repetition of whatever she has been saying so far. Certain remarks of Sonia at one point during the speech were also interpreted as a hint of her retirement plan. But Sonia has no such plan as of now. By increasing the number of CWC members to 35 from 23, the party has amply indicated that the Gandhis will remain members of the body. The party also avoided holding el