Is it the right time for Rahul to take over as Congress president?

On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi will formally take over as the Congress president.

New Delhi, Dec 16: It's a momentous occasion for the Congress on Saturday as it is going to welcome its 87th president Rahul Gandhi to take charge of the grand old party formally.

Since the time of Congress' first president Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee back in 1885, the grand old party has been presided over by some of the finest and illustrious politicians who have left a huge mark in the entire politics of the country.

Now, the 47-year-old scion of the Gandhi family is stepping up to fill the big shoes of his predecessors, which definitely is not an easy thing to achieve. Nonetheless the reluctant politician has finally agreed to take up the big responsibility of helming the 132-year-old party officially.

It has been a while since the talk surrounding Rahul's elevation as the party president is going on. However, every time it proved to be a rumour. This time it did turn true as the Congress hosted an election, which many dismissed as a farce, to elect its new president after 19 years of Sonia Gandhi's rule.

The critics of Rahul's elevation as the Congress boss, especially the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), say that the grand old party is continuing with its dynastic politics by letting a sixth Nehru-Gandhi to become its president.

Rahul's promotion has come at a crucial time, just two days before the Gujarat Assembly elections results and more than a year before the all-important parliamentary elections in 2019. So, the first test of Rahul will be how much his campaigning during the Gujarat elections helped the party?

Since the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, Rahul, who has been unofficially heading the Congress because of Sonia's bad health, has been blamed for the party's regular defeats in polls.

However, the 47-year-old managed to stay away from taking the blame for the party's electoral defeats as he was not the formal chief of the party. Now, anything goes wrong with the party, Rahul has to take its responsibility. Or else what is the point in being a leader?

Political observers say that even if the Congress does not win the polls in Gujarat, but Rahul has shown enough signs of being a strong and matured politician during his relentless campaigning in the home turf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Experts add that Rahul should continue with the same zeal and energy to unite the party and its grassroots cadres before the Lok Sabha elections of 2019.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia, current and former chief ministers, MPs, senior Congress leaders, and all the Pradesh Congress Committee (PPC) chiefs and delegates will be present at the handing over ceremony of Rahul.

Gandhi had been the party vice president for over four years since 2013. Rahul's main challenge remains the revamping of party organisation, apart from electoral battles in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The party workers have already started their celebrations in Delhi and across the country to welcome their new chief. Soon after his "coronation", Rahul can't afford to waste a minute as the road ahead for him is full of thorns.

OneIndia News