Why Sandeep Dikshit's comment on 'elitist Congress' is a veiled attack on Rahul Gandhi

Delhi: After former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit ‘pitied’ Ajay Maken for scoring a duck in the assembly elections where he finished a distant third in the Sadar Bazar constituency, son Sandeep Dikshit and two times MP from East Delhi has lashed out the “elitist” culture within the party. Though he has refused to take any names and swears by the party high command, this is a direct swipe at the “power” running state of affairs, namely Rahul Gandhi and his pet project of holding internal elections.

“What is important is to bring new people into the Congress. We have almost 50 percent deadwood in senior Congress and 70 percent in Youth Congress and NSUI,” said Sandeep, who has decades of experience in rural development and NGO sector. What he has said is nothing new, many leaders echo the same sentiment behind closed doors, but it took a Sandeep Dikshit to bell the cat.

The failure of Rahul Gandhi to rise to the occasion has cost the party dearly, Delhi being the sixth state that Congress has lost since the 2014 verdict (after Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Delhi). Just after the drubbing in May, AAP’s campaign was in tatters and it was fighting for survival in Delhi. Its MLAs were in touch with the BJP, even as the party cried foul over the saffron party’s tactics of horse trading to form a government in Delhi.

“BJP was seen as opportunistic in Delhi, issues like ghar wapasi and h_araamzaade_ remark was not taken kindly by the public. The AAP was directionless and their party was on the verge of getting split” said a Congress leader on condition of anonymity. “That was the time Rahul_ji_ should have hit the streets, it would have worked wonders for our workers’ morale, but we lost a golden opportunity,” he confided.

The so-called Rahul brigade who had ornamental presence in UPA’s council of ministers remains confused about their role in party affairs. Though youngsters like Sachin Pilot, Arun Yadav and Ashok Tanwar have been appointed PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) chiefs of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and Haryana respectively, they face stiff opposition from regional satraps. Others have little option but to wait for Congress heir apparent and his much awaited blueprint that has taken almost a year in the making.

Though Rahul had given charge to the relatively younger combine of Ajay Maken and Arvinder Lovely in Delhi, their decision to reduce Sheila Dikshit to a non-entity during the election campaign didn’t go down well in the party.

However Sandeep Dikshit also runs the risk of coming under fire. He was nowhere to be seen during the election campaign, but his move seems calculated to give momentum to voices within the party. They want leadership to take charge rather than the “coterie” of unelected loyalists rule roost.

The organisational election in IYC and NSUI are largely seen as an ineffective exercise as reports of money power and fake memberships still plague the process. So Dikshit is not off the mark when he says good governance alone is not enough to win elections when you have powerful messages like “garibi hatao” and “inclusiveness”.

The glamour may well attract people to politics, but a look at the way AAP has hit the road in the past six months and it becomes clear that there is no substitute to hard work. Unfortunately for Rahul, the vision remains blurred, commented another senior leader.