Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: After attributing the last few organisational decisions to “AICC”, Congress on Thursday appointed Mohan Markam as new chief of Chhattisgarh unit and credited the decision to “Congress President”.

While the party still fought shy of naming the author as “Congress president Rahul Gandhi” as used to be done before Lok Sabha results, the partial rollback came amid concerns that repeated public assertions about the Gandhi scion having stepped down has created an impression of vacuum at the top which was compounding the post-debacle woes.

The uncertainty is such that there are strong rumours about a chief minister resigning in a day or two.

The irony behind the announcement of new Chhattisgarh chief was not lost on party men as it came just a day after Rahul Gandhi told a meeting of Haryana leaders that he could not take decision about the state leadership as he was not the party president any more.

If the situation appears befuddling, insiders conceded they were still to emerge from the resignation drama.

However, after back-to-back assertions by Rahul that he would not take back his decision, Congress insiders are reconciled to finding a successor and have begun to talk of possible candidates.

A senior party member said the candidate would surely be from the majority community, given the “new political realities” created by BJP. Also, he would have to be “articulate with public recognition and national profile”.

There are not too many candidates on the horizon, with names of Mallikarjuna Kharge, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Mukul Wasnik among those offered as possibilities. Wasnik is the longest-serving AICC general secretary and a former Union minister. Besides, he is in-charge of Tamil Nadu and Kerala where Congress performed well in the LS polls. Kharge has the seniority and the profile after serving for five years as leader in the last Lok Sabha.

As Congress tries to emerge from its post-defeat blues, senior leaders warned that the stress on resignations following Rahul Gandhi’s “accountability mantra” could trigger complete breakdown in the party and also destabilise its state governments.

“At least, the general secretaries are working and a semblance of normalcy exists in election-bound states. Else, it would be anarchy in the organisation,” a leader said.

The greater concern among Congress leaders is that the resignation drama has led to a simmering generational clash in the party which, if stoked, could spiral out of control. While the group close to Rahul Gandhi is said to be blaming the senior leaders for the debacle, the veterans argue they had little role in critical functions that boomeranged on Congress.

