New Delhi, June 7: Senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat's decision to quit the party has again brought into focus the high command's declining capacity to manage conflicts, with the party grapevine abuzz with the possibility of "more surprises".
Kamat was a general secretary and member of the Congress Working Committee, the party's top policy-making body, and his exit came within days of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi's revolt.
Jogi, who has never got along well with Rahul Gandhi, has unveiled plans to float a new party.
Today, sources hinted at more such "surprises" if Sonia Gandhi failed to address the concerns of a large number of senior leaders. There are also fears of a greater crisis unfolding if the vital issue of synergy between the entrenched forces and the new leadership is not resolved.
The sources said this was the issue delaying the much-awaited shuffle, which was to have taken place soon after the party's May 2014 electoral rout.
While there is speculation that a new team and the structural changes would be announced soon, Sonia is said to be keen on harmonising the conflicting interests before handing over the reins to Rahul. She doesn't want to run the risk of internal sabotage as Rahul is taking over at a critical juncture, the sources said.
There is no quarrel over Rahul taking over as party president but the difference of opinion is over the structure and how the new system would work. While the demand to revive the parliamentary board as the top decision-making body may be accepted, a new advisory body may come up.
These structures are being advised to make up for the lack of experience that might affect the functioning of the party under the younger leadership.
The younger leaders, however, see this as a ploy by the veterans to retain control. The veterans say there has been no evidence to show that a new crop of leaders had matured enough. "The results over the last two years tell a different story," said a senior leader, speaking on the collapse of the conflict management system.
Asked about Kamat's decision, a senior Maharashtra leader said the former Mumbai Congress chief had been "upset for a few months over minor issues".
"He was kept in the dark when Rahul's rally was planned in Mumbai. He thought the high command blindly supported the new Mumbai chief, Sanjay Nirupam, instead of accommodating other senior leaders. Then came the Rajya Sabha nomination of P. Chidambaram as the proverbial last straw."
Another leader from Maharashtra said: "Everybody was upset when an outsider was given Rajya Sabha nomination from the state but that isn't the main problem.... In the older days, the party chief had multi-layered channels to find out the truth and fix a problem but it is linear now."
This leader explained: "During the Indira Gandhi days there was a very involved general secretary, a team of M.L. Fotedar, another team of R.K. Dhawan, apart from senior leaders in every state who would help the supreme leader manage crises. Now, that political management has diminished. We are getting abrupt answers, corporate-like 'yes' or 'no' decisions."
This feeling is widespread in the party and complaints about lack of access to Sonia and Rahul, and the tendency to put all the eggs in one basket, instead of trying to take everybody along, are rampant.
"Soniaji's instinctive responses were always right," a party MP said. "At times she was misguided into taking wrong decisions but she knew what is what. We can't say the same about Rahul. He hasn't come into his own yet. The sooner it happens, the better."
