Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad is greatly shaken, as Rahul Gandhi’s new vision of Congress politics makes it seem that Azad could be losing his up till now pre-eminent position. It is ‘Advantage Tariq Anwar, the now disgruntled NCP leader who seems to be staging a comeback into the Congress, thanks to Rahul. Nothing better explains Azad’s sudden statement that Hindu candidates of the Congress never want him to campaign for them, to prevent an erosion of Hindu votes. Azad was never a champion of Muslims, nor a big draw as an election campaigner. It is just the kindness of the Gandhi family that has kept him afloat in politics. And hence, the whispers from the wings, that Anwar could be the new prodigal son for Rahul has rattled him. Scuttlebutt is that Rahul not only sees Anwar as a General Secretary of the party, but in charge of the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.
Those who have been watching Rahul closely know by now that anyone who thinks of himself as his turn-around-tutor, or have the temerity of pretending to be his new guru end up in a shambles, sooner or later. Look at the plight of Digvijay Singh. Or at the forlorn state of Janardan Dwivedi. They are like the dead stars that still seem to twinkle a thousand light years away from reality. And now it seems it is curtains for Ghulam Nabi Azad. He had been aspiring to hold the UP post. But Rahul is navigating his political path going by his past experiences. Last heard of in that slot, Azad had led Congress into a submissive alliance with the Samajwadi Party, on their conditions and terms. This led to the SP granting seats to the Congress from where the party had never won. In the crucial Gorakhpur (LS) by polls, Azad gave the party ticket to a candidate who could barely pull in 15,000 votes, causing a large inner-party feud. Such issues have been doing the rounds in Rahul’s mind, for sure, and hence, it is the freezer for Azad.