Sasikanth Senthil is the new K Raju in the Congress party.
Senthil is reportedly one of the most powerful men in the Rahul Gandhi circle and he along with K. C. Venugopal M.P. are taking all key decisions including strategy, performance and election related matters.
So much so that the much-hyped election management committee which was said to be headed by Priyanka Gandhi has been shelved (possibly to keep Priyanka Gandhi Vadra out of such a high-profile committee) and instead election related matters are deliberated and decided by Venugopal, Senthil and the in charge of the state which is under discussion.
Rahul’s main problem appears to be his over dependence on bureaucrats and technocrats and his strong belief that politicians can neither be trusted nor can they be allowed to take key decisions.
K RAJU former IAS of 1981 batch from Andhra Pradesh is now AICC in charge of Jharkhand as he has been removed from Rahul’s inner team and office, but Senthil very much rules the roost at the moment.
It is interesting that Rahul who takes no interest in micro issues made it a point to attend the CEC meeting at 10.30 in the morning to ensure that the ticket of the sitting MP Jayakumar was cut and instead Senthil was given the ticket. Rahul’s interest was only in that one seat.
Senthil won the election and did not look back after that.
It is understood that the decision to give unlimited powers to the district presidents in a bid to revive the Congress have emanated from the fertile brain of Senthil and Rahul has caught on and clung to it like a man who has been given a lifeline.
The entire party is aghast at the immaturity of Rahul Gandhi, but the question is who will bell the cat.
There is no accountability of the District Presidents. The names are being proposed by the observers, and this has already led to huge factionalism within the majority of the districts with senior leaders of the districts not being consulted and open infighting evident.
The district presidents will not answer to the PCC president as he is appointed by the high command, and this will lead to a dilution of the authority of the PCC president and the state unit.
As one senior leader put it, “the Congress is headed for further chaos and anarchy after this decision as obviously the leadership has not thought of all the consequences and repercussions of this decision.
Another blue-eyed boy is Ratikanta Kanungo who is now conducting a survey in Bihar on the basis of which tickets will be given.
He had also made recommendations in Maharashtra and Haryana, and these were taken very seriously. The Congress had lost both Maharashtra and Haryana.
Rahul’s main problem appears to be his over dependence on bureaucrats and technocrats and his strong belief that politicians can neither be trusted nor can they be allowed to take key decisions.
With the sole exception of K C Venugopal who is the repository of all political wisdom in the Congress party. And he has the power of attorney of Rahul Gandhi to take all key decisions.
Venugopal has now entrusted the charge of handling all decisions regarding district presidents to an Andhra Pradesh leader to Chella Vamshi Chand Reddy to handle the selection process of district presidents and to analyse their performance and their functioning.
Reddy is known to be a groupie of Venugopal.
Arbitrary decision making and the consolidation of power in the hands of just a small faction close to Rahul Gandhi has alienated large sections of the party in the absence of debate and discussion.
Renu Mittal
Renu Mittal is a veteran Journalist of India. She has been reporting on the Congress Party affairs since 1983.
