GUWAHATI, Dec 11 - With Rahul Gandhi being formally declared as the Congress party�s president-elect, non-Congress parties believe that Congress members� hopes that the grand old party will be able to revive its fortunes under Rahul, are unfounded and that the elevation of the Gandhi scion will bring no change in the larger political scenario.
Senior leaders of non-Congress parties told The Assam Tribune that Gandhi was already functioning as the de facto chief of his party for the last three years, a period during which Congress suffered many electoral reverses.
�With Sonia Gandhi being unwell in the past three years, Rahul was already serving as unofficial Congress party boss. He led the party in Uttar Pradesh which went to the polls earlier this year, in which the Congress was virtually wiped out. Even in the Assam Legislative Assembly polls last year, Rahul was the face of the Congress party and we all know what the results were. Rahul may be young but it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is considered an icon by the youths of this country,� Assam BJP general secretary Rupam Goswami told this newspaper.
He said that Congress, with Rahul as its vice president, reached its nadir and the situation will be no different once the Gandhi scion formally assumes the leadership role.
�All these years he has failed to prove himself a mass leader. His performance is lacking. People of India are now more educated and the new generation has no faith in the policies of the Congress party. The problem with Congress nowadays is that it cannot survive without somebody from the Nehru-Gandhi clan leading it and that itself shows its undemocratic structure,� Goswami said.
He added, on a lighter note, �Rahul's de facto stewardship has witnessed Congress losing one poll after another across the country. So, the longer Rahul remains at the Congress� helm of affairs, the better it is for us.�
The Asom Gana Parishad termed the Congress president-elect�s performance so far as �flop show�.
�Rahul has been serving as the Congress� supreme leader all but in the name for the past three years. Under him, Congress has suffered one setback after another. Now it will go further downhill. Rahul lacks charisma and leadership quality,� said AGP general secretary Dr Kamala Kalita. He added that Gandhi�s formal elevation will not help the Congress either in Assam or any other state.
�The Congress is a sinking ship and its base is getting eroded fast in Assam as well as nationally,� Dr Kalita said.
The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) termed the issue as an internal matter of the Congress party.
�We extend our best wishes to Rahul. He himself is a youth and so there is a possibility that with his formal elevation we may witness some changes within the Congress. Anyway, in recent times, Rahul has become more �dashing�. The Rahul we are seeing now in Gujarat is not the same Rahul we had seen in Uttar Pradesh. But, we will have to wait to find out how much he can achieve,� said AIUDF general secretary Champak Kalita.