Rahul Gandhi's new role could signal a generational shift in Congress

The nameplate on the room next to Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s room at the party office, 24 Akbar Road, will get an upgrade.

The sign outside the chamber that was until recently occupied by the Congress general secretary will now read vice-president, after Rahul Gandhi takes charge at the headquarters this week.

The move, while signaling a generational shift, according to party sources, will be the precursor to a rejig within the All India Congress Committee itself, with several new and young faces making the cut.

This obviously has left the old guard in the 127-year-old party a bit shaken; most of them known to be confidants of Sonia Gandhi. As a senior leader unhappily told Business Standard, “It will now be the young ones ruling the roost here at the AICC. But youthful energy they must remember, needs to be kept in check, otherwise it can be frittered away.”

Insiders say all of Rahul Gandhi’s decisions are likely to focus on the countdown to the 2014 general elections with the recent Jaipur Declaration of the party providing a framework for both the party and the government.

The Congress, for starters, has already sounded the poll bugle, launching its direct benefits transfer scheme.

The Congress scion had last month itself decided that the party organisation would be used in successful implementation of the scheme. He held a meeting-cum-training session of party workers and Youth Congress members to ensure a smooth roll-out of the scheme.

A core group of people known to work in close coordination with Rahul Gandhi, including Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh, Telecom expert Sam Pitroda and Unique Identification Authority of India chief Nandan Nilekani, have been hard at work in the Aadhaar and direct benefits transfer scheme roll-out. “It is the guidelines enumerated in the Jaipur declaration that will now chart the course of both the party and the government.”

While Ramesh coined the slogan “Aapka paisa aapke haath (your money in your hand)”, Pitroda — an old family loyalist since the time of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi — has been at the forefront providing technological inputs. Pitroda participated in the two days of brainstorming at the Chintan Shivir, with his interventions in every group discussion on how technology and innovation could be used to improve the lives of the aam aadmi, inclusive growth being the mantra.

With Gandhi, as the symbol of Young India, sources say that a lot of emphasis will now be laid on social media networking and already there has been much deliberation on how the party was out of touch as it had failed to jump on the social media revolution.

While there has been much speculation on exactly what the contours of his role will be, Gandhi himself in his emotionally stirring speech had outlined that “I will be doing the work of a judge, I will not be doing the work of a lawyer.”

As a senior Congress functionary explained, “Till now, Rahul Gandhi had been advocating various causes and especially that of the Youth Congress and NSUI. Now, when polls are just about a year away and we need to show tangible results on the ground in the run up to 2014, Rahul Gandhi will be the judge of performance. He has now been officially empowered to do so.”

The Youth Congress already having been thrust into the limelight like never before, are eagerly expecting to make it to AICC office bearer posts. While some old faces are likely to make way for new ones, it is unlikely that the junior Gandhi, who will be calling the shots, will entirely do away with the old brass as polls are just a year away.