Rajiv used to change CM at the airport itself; Now why does the Congress take hours to choose its leader?

The Congress high command has claimed to have resolved the chief ministerial dispute in Karnataka after 72 hours of tussle. Like Rajasthan, the Congress high command has implemented the formula of power sharing in Karnataka as well.

Under this formula, Siddaramaiah has been made the Chief Minister and DK Shivakumar the Deputy Chief Minister. Karnataka Congress general secretary in-charge Randeep Surjewala was seen taunting journalists on the question of delay in electing CM.

On the delay in electing the Chief Minister, Surjewala said in the press conference – Congress is a democratic party and efforts were being made to reach a consensus for the last two-three days. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was continuously consulting all the leaders for 2 days.

Surjewala further said that you people can ask questions to the Congress party, that’s why they are questioning us on the delay in electing the Chief Minister. You cannot ask such a question to Prime Minister Modi and BJP.

Surjewala may round-about the question of delay in choosing the Chief Minister, but in the last 9 years, choosing a leader (Chief Minister) for the Congress has proved to be a difficult task. Congress lost power in Madhya Pradesh due to lax attitude regarding the post of Chief Minister.

The party has also suffered a lot in Punjab and Rajasthan. In Rajasthan, till now the dispute between Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot is going on. Pilot has given an ultimatum to the Gehlot government.

Why does the Congress, which used to change the chief minister at the airport during Rajiv Gandhi’s time, now takes hours to elect its leader?

First story of Rajiv Gandhi’s era
Within the Congress, maximum number of Chief Ministers were changed during the period of Rajiv Gandhi. During the Rajiv Gandhi era, 4-4 chief ministers were changed in Rajasthan and Bihar within 5 years. In Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh also 3-3 chief ministers were changed.

In 1990, Rajiv Gandhi called the then Chief Minister of Karnataka Virendra Patil at the airport and asked him to resign. Rajiv was angry because of the sporadic riots in Karnataka.

After removing Patil, Rajiv Gandhi ordered S. Bangrappa to be made the Chief Minister. Coming from the Lingayat community, Patil made this a big issue in the 1994 elections and linked the order to change the chief minister at the airport to his own humiliation.

After assuming power of the Congress and the country in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi changed chief ministers in big states like Bihar, UP, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. It is interesting that even after the change of the Chief Minister, there was no voice of protest against Rajiv at that time.

Election of Chief Minister through voting
After Rajiv Gandhi, the command of Congress came in the hands of PV Narasimha Rao. In his time, Rao preferred Chief Minister selection through voting. In 1993, Digvijay Singh was elected Chief Minister in Madhya Pradesh only through voting.

Two years later, a meeting of legislators was called in Trivandrum to remove Karunakaran from Kerala. The legislators unanimously elected AK Antony as the leader at that time.

Patel’s recommendation is important in Sonia’s era
In 1998, Sitaram Kesri lost the post of president and Sonia Gandhi got the command of the party. After the arrival of Sonia Gandhi, the Congress succeeded in forming the government in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The ‘one line proposal’ process to elect the Chief Minister in the Congress was started during Sonia’s era. Under this, observers were sent from Delhi to the states where the Congress government was formed.

Observers used to come to Delhi with a proposal for a line. After that all the claimants were called to Delhi and a decision was taken on the name of the Chief Minister. During the Sonia era, the recommendation of her political secretary Ahmed Patel was considered important in the selection of the chief minister.

Ahmed Patel was political secretary to Sonia Gandhi. Sonia used to consult Patel before making any appointment. Patel always used to call himself the messenger of Madam.

During Sonia’s era, Ahmed Patel never allowed any crisis on his close chief ministers. Among them, the name of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is also there. Gehlot was considered a close and trusted friend of Patel.

In the era of Rahul-Kharge, the time taken for hours
First in the era of Rahul Gandhi and now in the era of Mallikarjun Kharge, the Chief Minister’s selection is getting delayed by hours. The Congress had won the Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan elections when Rahul was the president.

Congress took more than 96 hours to elect the Chief Minister in all the three states. At that time also the Congress had settled the dispute of the Chief Minister in Delhi itself.

However, the Chief Minister’s claim to resolve the issue failed. The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh fell because of the Chief Minister’s post. In Rajasthan also factionalism continues within the party.

After Rahul, now Mallikarjun Kharge has become the president of Congress. After Kharge became the president, the Chief Minister’s screw was stuck in Himachal. There too Priyanka Gandhi had solved it.

Similarly, the Karnataka issue was also stuck for 72 hours, which was finally resolved by Sonia Gandhi. In the end, the question is why such a situation prevails in the Congress?

1. The high command became weak- Since 2014, the Congress high command is in a very weak position. From 2019 to 2022, the party did not even have a full-time president. Even now the entire post of organization in Congress is vacant.

The members of the Congress Working Committee have also not been nominated yet. At the same time, the leaders sitting on the big posts themselves are not able to win the elections. Rahul Gandhi himself has lost the election in 2019 from Congress stronghold Amethi.

Priyanka Gandhi has also not been able to show any charisma in Uttar Pradesh. In such a situation, leaders with mass base can easily veto the decisions of the Congress high command.

The recent example is of Rajasthan. In September 2022, the Congress high command had sent observers there to pass a one-line proposal, but the ministers of the government got the MLAs to resign. The high command put this incident in the category of indiscipline.

Interestingly, till now no action has been taken against the leaders who challenged the high command.

2. High command lax in keeping the promise- In 2018, the Congress had implemented the power sharing formula in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Under this formula, it was said to make two strong contenders of the state the Chief Minister for two and a half years each.

Supporters of TS Singhdeo in Chhattisgarh say that Rahul Gandhi had promised to make him the Chief Minister for two and a half years, but when the turn came, it could not be implemented.

In the same way, the Sachin Pilot group is also accused. The Pilot faction says that the Congress high command had promised to remove Ashok Gehlot, but it has not yet been fulfilled.

Shivkumar and Siddaramaiah also had the same problem regarding power sharing. According to sources, when Rahul and Kharge did not agree, Sonia Gandhi finally called Shivkumar and assured him of fulfilling the promise.

3. Nothing to give to big leaders- In 2012, there was a controversy in Uttarakhand regarding the Chief Minister’s claim in the Congress. At that time, the Congress gave another strong contender Harish Rawat a big post in the center.

Congress has nothing to give since 2014. The party is continuously losing in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections of many states. On the other side is the ruling BJP, which immediately gives big and lucrative positions to strong leaders from the Congress.

That’s why Congress leaders keep standing in front of the high command and it takes a long time to elect a leader.

4. Lobby i.e. factionalism is also a solid reason- Congress is divided into many factions from all India to state level. Whenever a government is formed in a state, these groups stake their claims in front of the high command.

In Karnataka, apart from Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, the G Parameshwara faction also staked claim for the Chief Minister’s post. Due to all the factions being active together, the high command has to consult everyone.

It takes time to elect a leader in the Congress in order to create harmony between the factions at the Delhi and state levels.

Know how the dispute was resolved in Karnataka on the go.
After brainstorming for 2 days, Mallikarjun Kharge came out with a formula for Karnataka. Under this formula, it was decided to make Siddaramaiah the Chief Minister and DK Shivakumar the Deputy Chief Minister.

When Shivkumar was told about this formula, he refused to accept it. There was a meeting between Kharge and Surjewala late in the night, after which Sonia Gandhi was contacted.

Sonia Gandhi spoke to Shivkumar and assured to fulfill all the promises made to him. Shivkumar agreed after talking to Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress has said in the announcement that Shivkumar will be the deputy CM as well as the state president till 2024.