The Congress is not ruling out creating a “Margdarshak Mandal” at the AICC level in the name of an advisory council after the elevation of Mr Rahul Gandhi to party chief to keep the senior leaders in
The Congress is not ruling out creating a “Margdarshak Mandal” at the AICC level in the name of an advisory council after the elevation of Mr Rahul Gandhi to party chief to keep the senior leaders in good humour.
The party recently introduced this system in Maharashtra by nominating 15 senior leaders to the advisory council. But, while doing so, it has taken care of their sons and close relatives by nominating them to various posts in the organisation. And the same could be applied at the national level when the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family if formally given the top post. The BJP created the Margdarshak Mandal to isolate its senior leaders, including former party chiefs who were posing a threat to the current leadership in the party and government. But the Congress’ design seems different in the sense that there is no threat to Mr Rahul Gandhi’s leadership from seniors despite electoral debacles.
Members of the BJP’s Margdarshak Mandal raised certain issues after the saffron party suffered crushing defeats in the Bihar and Delhi Assembly polls, but there is no voice raised against the Congress leadership when the party lost the Lok Sabha elections and power in Maharashtra, Haryana and J&K, and was defeated in Jharkhand and Delhi.
Significantly, nobody is asking why the Congress lost power in Arunachal Pradesh despite having a majority and why Uttarakhand, currently under President’s Rule, was mismanaged.
Seniors in the Congress are generally accommodated in the CWC either as a permanent invitee or special invitee. The highest decision-making body usually meets to endorse decisions taken by the core group in the party on key issues.
According to Congress insiders, the idea of a Margdarshak Mandal is not bad per se. Those who cannot become office-bearers or hold positions in the party due to growing age should not feel like outcasts; their nomination to an advisory council would give them a sense of belonging, they claimed.
