As if the drubbing in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the subsequent demoralisation in the Congress Party were not enough, the rift between the two coteries – those of Congress President Sonia and her son Rahul Gandhi – seems to be widening day by day. This is happening at a time when the rudderless party is trying to gather its forces to fight the upcoming Assembly elections to two big states – Maharashtra and Haryana – where the ruling BJP is poised to come back without much contest.

No two leaders can have the same style of functioning and also no leader can run an organisation without a coterie – consisting of people the leader can trust. Now that he has resigned as the president after the results, Rahul Gandhi’s loyalists are feeling orphaned while the old guard is trying to dominate once again with the return of Sonia. The Sonia coterie may have thought that they trumped Rahul loyalists by suggesting Sonia as a successor to Rahul but, significantly, it has made no difference to the crisis gripping the party.

On May 25, when the Congress Working Committee met to discuss the poll debacle, Rahul blamed Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and senior leader P. Chidambaram for pushing their sons instead of working for the party. His sister Priyanka Gandhi also was reported to have said that the murderers of the party were sitting in that room. All this made the old guard fume and fret and they were waiting for an opportunity. It came after 78 days when they manoeuvred to bring back Sonia as the interim chief. Naturally Sonia could not run the party without the help of the old guard. Then came the axe for most of the younger lot who were promoted by Rahul.

The old guard is sitting pretty, confident of their place in the party so long as Sonia is there to protect them. However, the open defiance by Rahul loyalists in the past few days does not augur well for the party that too just days before polls to the two states. Rahul had built his own team and had appointed a majority of the PCC chiefs, CLP leaders and AICC secretaries and even Working Committee members to effect a transition when he took over. Most of these young leaders have not yet earned Sonia’s confidence because she had taken a back seat during Rahul’s presidency.

The fact that Sanjay Nirupam has openly revolted against the high command in Maharashtra and Pradesh Congress president Ashok Tanwar who has been replaced with Kumari Saileja in Haryana recently was emboldened to protest in front of Sonia Gandhi’s house speaks volumes about the trouble ahead. They are all handpicked Rahul supporters. Two of Rahul’s associates, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot who were in the race to become party president after Rahul’s resignation have been frustrated. Others like Milind Deora, Ajoy Kumar and Pradyut Debbarman – all in Rahul’s team – have resigned or have been replaced. However, not all have been sidelined as some like K.C.Venugopal, Sushmita Sen, Praveen Chakravorty, Sachin Rao, R.P.N.Singh and Jitender Singh are still surviving in the current regime.

Why this state of affairs in the Congress? First of all Sonia and Rahul are different in their approach, their style of functioning and understanding of the Congress party. While Sonia remained a status quoist, Rahul was impatient to reform the party without a strategy. Sonia is hardworking and she shrewdly kept the old guard with her for almost two decades without ruffling feathers while Rahul has picked up rootless wonders who have no idea of ground level politics. His handpicked men and women turned out to be ineffective. And his experiment with the Youth Congress was a failure. He is impulsive and not flexible.

The old guard was quick to put a spoke in his reform ideas claiming they were unworkable. It is this bitterness which made Rahul blame the old guard for the defeat. While his supporters are sulking, Rahul is not backing them. Rumour has it that Sonia is holding the position for just a few more months after which Rahul might come back to take charge. If that is so, the fight will continue but with Rahul loyalists having an upper hand. The ultimate casualty of this internal conflict is the Congress Party. If the party has to revive, the Gandhis should ensure that internal squabbles are stopped forthwith. With her own political stock diminishing, and her failing health Sonia is on the back foot. Pacifying the party’s young leaders will be among the biggest challenges for the Congress matriarch.