Under Rahul Gandhi, old guard is not being ousted: Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress has virtually denied there would be an organizational takeover by GenNext leaders as has been rumoured to happen under Rahul Gandhi.

The party went to unusual lengths to publicly deny a news report about plans for an organizational restructuring. The speculations about makeovers in political parties are routine and rarely commented upon, confirmed or denied, in categorical terms.

As the party dubbed the report about Rahul Gandhi authoring a GenNext takeover by kicking the old guard upstairs a la BJP as "mischievous" and "attempt to malign Congress and its leaders", there was surprise at what could be the reason to disown what has been in the air for long.

The denial stated that journalistic speculation can be justified in the realm of at least some existing facts but "the said story has tried to create a non-existent realm".

Many believe the vehement nature of the rebuttal virtually slams the door shut on any radical plans of organizational change. The wholesale uprooting of party apparatchiks is now being seen as old hat and the denial an attempt to allay the fears of the old guard.

The reason behind the party's reaction is seen to be the downslide in its political fortunes since the debacle in Lok Sabha elections. While the decimation in parliamentary polls stunned the party, it is not expecting a good show in Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections. It is also seen as a loser in Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir where elections would follow in coming months, as also in Delhi.

The continuous slide is seen to have cramped the leadership's stomach for an organizational surgery. The speculation on these lines virtually pitted the old guard against the GenNext.

While some senior leaders made comments questioning Rahul's abilities and demanding that Priyanka Gandhi be brought into politics, a bunch of AICC secretaries owing loyalty to the young leader attacked the seniors for hurting the party interest with their utterances. They demanded and secured a gag order on public airing of views.

No sooner did the party make its denial public on Wednesay that some senior partymen felt reassured. "The message in the denial is clear. The restructuring, whenever it happens, would be inclusive and not based on senior-youth divide," an office-bearer said.