Maken, Lovely in race to head Delhi Congress post Sheila era

By Sanjeev Singh Delhi: The announcement of Sheila Dikshit as governor of Kerala has alarm bells ringing in the Congress camp. Not only does it signal that they have given a walkover to the BJP and AAP in the Lok Sabha elections, but have also started a race for the leadership mantle in Delhi Congress. Ever since Sheila became Delhi Congress chief in 1996 and led the Congress to a spectacular win in 1998 riding on the onion price rise resentment, there was no doubt who the boss was. But with the field wide open, the stage is set for another battle for supremacy in the capital. The frontrunner seems to be former Union minister Ajay Maken who was appointed chairman of media department last year. An appointment widely being seen as having the blessings of heir apparent Rahul Gandhi. He is known to take good care of his loyalists and enjoys a clean reputation. His elevation in the party can be gauged from the fact that one can often spot him with Rahul Gandhi during his press conferences and was the lone candidate from his New Delhi seat during the primaries (internal election of candidate by electoral college). [caption id=“attachment_1427765” align=“alignnone” width=“300”]  Congress leader Ajay Maken. Image courtesy PIB[/caption] The surprise factor has been the newly appointed Delhi PCC President Arvinder Singh Lovely. He won his first election becoming the youngest MLA in the 1998 Assembly from Gandhi Nagar in East Delhi and was made a minister in 2003. Despite the resounding defeat in the 2013 Assembly elections, he retained his seat and has managed to instill some confidence into the party cadre. He has galvanised supporters and has been a vocal critic of both AAP and BJP despite his party’s support to AAP during their 49 day stint in the Delhi secretariat. He enjoys full support from the outgoing PCC chief. “He is a nice, energetic man. It will depend on how hard he works for the party in the Lok Sabha elections,” said JP Agarwal. A known critic of Sheila Dikshit, Agarwal believes it’s time for Delhi to look beyond Shiela Dikshit. “Life doesn’t stop for anyone and there is nothing called vaccum. Congress moved beyond Nehru and Indira also. We have Rahul to show us the way,” Agarwal said. A distant third in the race is East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit, also the sole inheritor of his mother Sheila Dikshit’s political legacy. The former NGO activist is known for his simplicity and is acknowledged as a top parliamentarian across the political spectrum. He was often seen openly defying the party line when it came to burning issues like the anti-corruption crusade of Anna Hazare and the infamous Nirbhaya episode. But he has not been able to keep his supporters together like a Maken or Lovely are able to do easily. With Rahul Gandhi at the helm, other senior leaders like JP Agarwal, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler will prefer to take the backseat for now. The 1984 riots ensured an untimely end to the political careers of Kumar and Tytler giving Sheila a free run during her 15 year reign. Sajjan Kumar’s son Pravesh Kumar came third from Sangam Vihar in the 2013 Assembly elections, while Tytler is willing to let youngsters take centre stage. “I’m a party man and I have held all positions possible within the organization. I’ve been a five time MP too. We have a lot of youngsters and I’m willing to play the role of a guide and will campaign for the party in the upcoming elections,” says Tytler. But the bigger problem before the grand old party is that it doesn’t have any mass leader in the new pack. Fortunately for them, the same applies to the BJP in Delhi. AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal seems to be the only leader with mass appeal in the capital. And that is a bigger problem for the Congress than the BJP. The recent Assembly elections saw AAP get an astonishing 31 percent vote in its very first election. Congress was 15 percent down from the previous election to 24 while BJP lost 2 percent to be at 34 percent vote share. So it’s the Congress that needs to get its act together. “UPA government failed to rein in rising prices of essential commodities and that was a major factor,” admitted Sandeep Dikshit. He also said, “Perception management of the party’s image could have been done in a much better way, things are not as bad as they are being made out to be.” The lower classes, especially the traditional vote of Balmikis have abandoned the Congress for AAP and the Jhaadu being a potent symbol of that change. Kejriwal’s open war in Gujarat against Narendra Modi and filing an FIR against political bigwigs and Reliance Industries has made his stock high among the erstwhile Congress vote bank. As for the Congress, they seem to have no strategy in place to counter it. The party’ reluctance to anoint a clear candidate as face of the party in Delhi is only adding to the problem. If such a scenario continues, then the party runs the risk of even losing the confidence of Muslims. That could drastically alter the political equation in the state, and AAP will be the biggest gainer. That’s why it’s imperative for the Congress to fine tune its strategy in Delhi, otherwise the Jhaadu will literally sweep them away from a state that they ruled with absolute power for 15 years.