Some argue that the Congress party’s peracme* is done and dusted. Others feel that with the mundivagant* Rahul Gandhi making news as national unity’s tourist in Burberry, rowing snake boats (not to be confused with political snakes) like a Cambridge blue, the Congress cannot escape family rule. Ever. But the perception of the Grand Old Lady of Akbar Road as an object of floccinaucinihilipilification* could change with the election for party president. Its prospects in omnishambles*, the limerence* of its adherents has compelled it to stick to the Gandhis as the only antidote to kakorrhaphiophobia*. Journalists, especially television terrorists, are known to be ultracrepidarians*, but I guess that by now, most readers have no idea what I’m talking about. But if Shashi Tharoor becomes the Congress chief, they will.
The upcoming party election is the ultimate ballon d’essai*. A contest between old fox Ashok Gehlot and the urbane Tharoor suggests a long-needed image overhaul. Tharoor, who had attended the G23 rebel meeting in Delhi, is not the typical cut-throat, dyed-in-the-wool, backstabbing political survivor. He can handle admiring crowds at different festivals, namely elections and literary. Gehlot, whose every day is a bad hair day, is the archetypal Congress neta who can adroitly navigate treacherous political back alleys and score wins, both for his party’s grassroots and himself -- a skill sorely needed to make allies and influence people since Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is clearly about becoming the 2024 PM candidate.
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Tharoor neither possesses nor promotes dynastic advantages, but Gehlot’s malversations* may backfire in the age of ED activism; son Vaibhav was booked for fraud in March. The CBI, investigating corruption, raided his brother Agrasen’s home. His government is accused of favouring firms with links to his daughter Sonia and son-in-law Gautam Ankhad with Rs 11,000 crore worth of contracts and gifts. Tharoor is squeaky clean. Contrary to the Hindutva ethos, he is also his party’s only Nehruvian facsimile who ticks the right boxes; a social sophisticate with a posh accent, educated at St. Stephens and Tufts, an acclaimed author, Assistant Secretary and Under Secretary-General at the UN, and a minister. He is also the only Nehruvian facsimile whom Narendra Modi seems to like -- an added advantage as Congress boss. Tharoor makes the nationalist list too, being a vegetarian and a proud, active Hindu, who has read the Upanishads, unlike many of his BJP compatriots.
Sonia Gandhi’s nod doesn’t ensure Tharoor victory, but it signals that she is open to an elitist with the common touch. This combination was the stuff India’s freedom struggle Congressmen were made of. The party needs an independence movement of its own. Only a gobemouche* will believe, however, that freedom from the Family is inhesive* in Congress’s internal democracy, irrespective of who wins the catbird seat.
(Glossary: Peracme: The point when the prime or highest vigour is over. Mundivagant: world wanderer. Floccinaucinihilipilification: habit of estimating something as worthless. Ballon d’essai: scheme tentatively announced to test public opinion. Omnishambles: a comprehensively mismanaged situation, characterised by blunders and miscalculations. Limerence: state of infatuation or obsession with another person that involves an all-consuming passion and intrusive thoughts. Kakorrhaphiophobia: unnatural fear of failure. Ultracrepidarian: person who expounds opinions beyond their own knowledge. Malversation: corrupt administration. Gobemouche: credulous person who believes everything they hear. Inhesive: being inherent in something.)
Ravi Shankar can be reached at ravi@newindianexpress.com.