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Rahul Gandhi: Joining the cabinet?

Rahul, who entered politics in 2004, is currently a Member of Parliament. The Congress-led coalition has been grooming Gandhi to succeed his mother, Sonia Gandhi, as president of the party and a potential prime minister.

Barrister Harun ur Rashid
IT is reported that on August 11, India's Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said that Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's entry into the cabinet would be a welcome development. "When it happens you all will know. I have always maintained that I welcome Rahul's entry into the cabinet."
The move to ask Rahul
Gandhi, politician and scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, to join the cabinet, is reportedly aimed at lifting the sagging popularity of the ruling Congress party.
In July, Rahul Gandhi indicated that he would take up a more hands-on role in the party and the government. "I will play a more proactive role. The decision has been taken, the timing is up to the leadership," he said at the time.
Rahul, who entered politics in 2004, is currently a Member of Parliament. Congress-led coalition, which has governed the country since 2004, has been grooming Gandhi to succeed his mother, Sonia Gandhi, as president of the party and a potential prime minister.
Uttar Pradesh has historical significance for the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty. During the past hundred years, six generations from the family have fought and won elections in Uttar Pradesh, with three of them ruling India as prime minister, including Rahul's father, Rajiv Gandhi.
He played a lead role in Congress's state election campaign in Uttar Pradesh in February, to capture enough votes to regain power. While Rahul campaigned for the Congress Party another young man, Akhilesh Yadav of Samajbadi Party, was also in the field. Samajbadi won majority of seats and Yadav became the youngest chief minister of the largest state, while the Congress Party could only secure 28 of the 403 seats.
Analysts say that it proved that Rahul was not a "vote getter" as was expected and all the hard work put in by him did not translate into votes and seats when the local party organisation was weak and local Congress leadership was virtually non-existent in Uttar Pradesh.
One factor for defeat of the Congress party is reportedly the waning support of Muslims for the Congress in the state. Muslims were considered in the past as Congress's vote-bank. However, the decline of support to the Congress began when, in 1992, the Congress Rao government acted as a silent spectator while the militant Hindus, with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), demolished the 464-year old Babri Mosque.
The Congress Party is going through a tough time politically. Corruption scandals tainted the Congress-led government. BJP demanded the resignation of the prime minister on coal allocation policy and obstructed parliamentary proceedings. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sounded the alarm about the functioning of the world's biggest democracy after parliament broke up on September 7 at the end of an almost entirely wasted legislative session.
Recendy, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj openly stated that the Congress leadership has made huge sums of money in the allotments of coal, popularly known as
"Coalgate." It is a clever strategy of BJP to bring their allegations against the party instead of the government because any allegation against the prime minister would not be credible to the people.
The disruption in parliament came at a time when India's economy is badly faltering, with investors and business leaders looking for economic reforms from the government to restore confidence and spur economic expansion. The economy grew just 6.5% in the fiscal year ended March 31. Foreign investment in the first six months of this year fell to $16.5 billion, down 18% from the period last year, according to the Reserve Bank of India.
The World Economic Forum recently ranked India 106th in the world on global competitiveness, 30 places behind Russia and a staggering 80 places behind China. Shekhar Gupta, editor of the Indian Express, an English-language daily, said. "In nearly eight years so far, the [Congress-led government! has completely changed the reformist mood to a dark, negative 'povertarian' discourse of the 1970s." Observers say that at the time of crisis of the Congress Party, Rahul has not been seen to be active either in parliament or outside to re-energise the rank and file of the party and defend the Congress party against the BJP's allegations. Furthermore, his mother had gone to the US for a medical check-up and as a general secretary Rahul Gandhi should have
taken charge of the party.
Furthermore, political analysts say Rahul remains an enigma to the Indian people. Questions have been raised whether he has been pushed into politics, like his father. His thoughts on many major issues remain mostly unknown. Pratap Bhanu, President of Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, who has met Rahul, reportedly said: "What is Rahul's vision? It is not apparent to a lot of people what his political convictions are." Analysts say that Rahul Gandhi has to reveal more about himself to the people.
Some say his sister Priyanka is a more natural politician than he is. A recent poll commissioned by NDTV found that 65% of respondents who claimed to be Congress voters want Priyanka Gandhi to join active politics. She reminds a lot of people of her grandmother, Indira Gandhi.
Critics say that this is a time for Congress to take a deep breath and do some analysis of factors that affected its popularity. Some of them are beyond Congress control and some are of its own making. Inept handling of corruption scandals and the weak economy have adversely affected its popularity.
The government has to face election in 2014 and it is unclear whether the Congress can manage a coalition again to form the next government.
Observers, however, say that no one can be certain about the future of Congress and BJP in Indian politics as it depends on variable factors that change quite often. Furthermore, political power does not rest on the two major national parties. It is the regional parties that have a great influence as to which party will hold power in New Delhi in 2014.
The writer is Former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.