National Herald crisis: With Sonia back to firefighting, Rahul elevation likely to wait

The National Herald case that has hit Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, may have one unintended consequence. It could push even further Rahul’s anointment as party chief and prune the role Sonia envisaged for him as the party’s face for all seasons.

Rahul’s elevation as party chief has been in the works for at least a couple of years now. But each time it seemed to be on the anvil, Sonia has had to defer it because the circumstances were working against him.

Sonia completed her fourth term as party chief this year, becoming its longest serving president. Ideally, she would have wanted to hand over the baton to her son at this juncture. But the reverberations that shook the organisation after the party’s disastrous performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and the tussle between the old and new guard forced her to keep the plan in abeyance.

Accordingly, in September, the party’s highest decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee extended Sonia’s tenure as party chief for another year. But by hailing Rahul’s contribution and leadership at the meeting, Sonia made it amply clear that the Amethi MP would continue to run the show.

Indeed, in underlining her faith in him, she left behind a feeling that midway through her extended tenure, she could pass on her mantle to him if she feels the time is opportune to do so.

The Herald controversy could now lead to a further delay.

This is because a Delhi court’s directive that Sonia, Rahul and give other party veterans appear before it on December 19 in connection with the alleged criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of funds spells a setback and poses a huge personal, political, ethical, legal and organisational challenge for the leadership that Rahul may not be able to handle.

The halo Sonia acquired by renouncing the PM’s post in 2004 is being besmirched by the allegation that Young Indian, a front company in which she and Rahul had a 76 percent stake, acquired the assets and properties worth thousands of crores of the debt-ridden Associated Journals Limited, the publisher of the now-defunct National Herald. Though the Congress, which drew sustenance from Sonia’s enhanced stature, has dubbed the filing of the case as a “political vendetta”, there are apprehensions that the long drawn-out legal battle would impact her image and politics and hurt an already bloodied organisation.

It will require Sonia’s entire might to fight off the setback to her reputation and credibility and turn the crisis staring her in her face into a political opportunity much like her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi had done when the Janata government of 1977 arrested and put her on trial. The public, which had voted her out in the General Elections, began to sympathise with her.

Sonia is perhaps hoping to stoke a similar response from people with her decision to appear in court along with Rahul on 19 December.  But if she wants the public to believe that it is a case of victimisation, she has to lead from the front. She cannot afford to hand over the mantle or the task to Rahul, who is yet to win the confidence of the people or even of his own party in full measure. His image even after 11 years as an MP remains that of a debutante and a dilettante in politics who may find it difficult to deal with a major crisis, more so one of the magnitude that the Herald case could turn out to be.

Sonia, on the contrary, has during the 17 years she has been actively participating in politics, proved her mettle. She fought off the campaign against her foreign origin. She jettisoned the Congress’s “go-it-alone’’ policy to strike up alliances and make a successful bid for power at the Centre. She steered the Congress to two General Election victories and sought to give a pro-poor and pro-aam aadmi tilt to the party and the Manmohan Singh government. Drawing inspiration from Indira Gandhi’s politics and sartorial preferences, she managed to strike a chord with the people and earn their goodwill.

But her achievements were clouded by her motherly instincts in the last couple of years as she continued to invest in Rahul despite his poor track record. Although the Amethi MP has displayed a better profile and a more aggressive approach since his return from a nearly two month sabbatical in April, he still has a long way to go.

Indeed, Sonia’s signals at the CWC meet that Rahul will be the defining figure and face of the party could now be constrained by the Herald factor. Rahul will still be there — visible and audible in Parliament and outside. But when it comes to taking the Herald issue to the people, the campaign will have to be spearheaded by Sonia, more so when the ruling BJP is portraying it as a case of the Congress leadership’s corruption and greed.

While fighting the legal battle in the court for as long as it takes, Sonia will have to use all the political skills at her command to project it as the BJP’s “political vendetta” against her and her family in her effort to tap whatever goodwill she may have earned and try and gain the sympathy and support of the people. It is a daunting task, given that legal battles often stretch on for months and even years and public sympathy may or may not materialise. But if she has to solicit people’s support in battling the issue, she cannot afford to step back for her son like she has done on earlier occasions. The stakes are much too high this time. But if she manages to invoke public sympathy, she may feel emboldened to push Rahul to the fore.