If you can’t beat them or join them, boycott them — this seems to be the new mantra adopted by some members of the embattled Grand Old Party. A handful of them were found speaking ill of Rahul Gandhi in private circles. But it is not because they think that he is leaving the party in the lurch at a crucial juncture. Nor is it because of his frequent unexplained foreign trips. They are angry with the Gandhi scion for his unwillingness to take up the issue of EVM tampering in a big way. They were hoping he would lead a mass movement that would force the government to abandon the suspect machines in future elections. They also wondered if a strong lobby should be created among Opposition parties to work on this agenda. Many of them even requested Sonia Gandhi to boycott the next round of assembly elections so as to mount pressure on the Election Commission and the Supreme Court for returning to the ballot paper in the polls. These leaders are mostly those who lost in the last Lok Sabha polls, but some Congressmen from Maharashtra have conveyed similar sentiments to her too, arguing that there is no point in contesting elections with EVMs. Many sitting MLAs from Maharashtra are desperately urging the central leadership to do something about the EVMs. But Sonia patiently explained that a boycott has to be a collective decision of all Opposition parties, which looks difficult at this juncture.

Knotty problem

It is doubtless that Rahul Gandhi has left the Congress in deep trouble with his resignation; few in the party anticipated that finding his successor would be so difficult. When consensus eluded the senior leaders who were deliberating on a way out of this problem under the guidance of veteran leaders like AK Antony and Ahmed Patel, all Congress Working Committee members were asked to give four preferences within sealed covers to the senior-most office-bearer, Motilal Vora. But only seven members did so; others were not in agreement with this method. Some even suspect that Vora might have secretly given the feedback, which was not palatable and thus the process was abandoned.

Now some leaders have suggested an election for the top post, but once again there are those who disagree. Loyalists, in the meantime, are leaving no stone unturned to convince Sonia that handing the reins of the party over to someone outside ‘the family’ will be suicidal. While some feel that appointing Priyanka Gandhi now will be counter-productive and that she should take over after two years if Rahul is adamant not to be party president even then, others are convinced that the Congress will be destroyed in these two years.

Cold reception

Navjot Singh Sidhu has caused such a stir in Punjab that Congressmen there want him to be shifted to Delhi, which needs a charismatic personality after Sheila Dikshit’s demise. Sidhu can’t get along with the chief minister, Amarinder Singh, and all plans of grooming him as the Captain’s successor have gone kaput. Sidhu, apparently, is impatient and hasn’t learnt the Congress culture of working silently and waiting for his turn. He is like a bulldozer, who, unfortunately, ran into another bulldozer in the form of Singh. Sidhu has vacated his official bungalow after losing his ministerial berth and settled down in Amritsar, promising his supporters that he is not going anywhere. But Delhi is abuzz with rumours of his induction and counter-strategies are already being hatched to block him. Does that mean even Delhi will cold-shoulder Sidhu?

Skilled manoeuvre

The senior Congress leader, Jyotiraditya Scindia, tweeted an article by the Aam Aadmi Party leader and deputy CM of Delhi, Manish Sisodia. In the piece, Sisodia lauds the “corrupt UPA” and accuses the Bharatiya Janata Party — “a party that used RTI exposes against the Congress” — of being “terrified of it”. Ever the skilled politician, Scindia used Sisodia’s article to the Congress’s advantage in spite of the “corrupt” barb. “An honest government would never be scared of information being made accessible. This move... speaks volumes about the intent of this government,” Scindia tweeted.

Bridge the gap

KC Venugopal had a lot to do with the Congress clinching a coalition deal with the Janata Dal (Secular) to keep the BJP out after the 2018 state polls in Karnataka. But he has now become the favourite punching bag in the state. Many feel that he could have done better if he learned a bit of Kannada to bridge the communication gap and spent more time in Karnataka, that borders his home state, Kerala.

The prospect of media cameras jolted H.D. Kumaraswamy out of his despondency PTI

Footnote

HD Kumaraswamy is not one to hide his emotions. He has often wept in public and lamented his plight at heading a coalition full of adversities. The day after he lost the trust vote, while chairing the JD(S) meeting, some members noticed he was rather sullen, with his right palm cupping his face. But as soon as he heard a party colleague telling him that a large posse of camerapersons would splash his woebegone look in the next day’s papers, he sat up straight. Losing a chair hurts.