Rahul’s coterie: Is this team responsible for Congress’ rout?
May 24, 2014
New Delhi: The old guard and even some young leaders in the Congress have their knives out after the poll rout, and it’s mainly for Rahul Gandhi’s team of advisors. Former minister Milind Deora has been the most vocal, saying that Mr Gandhi’s “non-political advisors” had caused a drift in the organization, while other leaders had also questioned the quality of advice received from Rahul Gandhi. Mr Gandhi’s team had also made some feeble attempts to fight back. Here is a lowdown on the members of Rahul Gandhi’s core team who are under fire.
The six under fire
Jairam Ramesh: Blamed for not being a man of masses and yet call the shots in the Lok Sabha elections. Sources confide that the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi herself hauled up Mr Ramesh on 20 May. On his visit to AICC, Mr Ramesh was again at the receiving end, where he got a severe dressing down from a senior party leader considered close to the Congress chief. “You messed up big time,” Mr Ramesh was told by this leader. Considered among Rahul Gandhi’s closest confidantes, Mr Ramesh is not a very popular man in the party righs now. “Even if we would have won I would have seen that you are out of the cabinet,” he was told by the aforementioned leader. Mr Ramesh ran the Congress war room from the Gurudwara Rakabganj Road which looked after the coordination of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Kanishka Singh: Became a hurdle for party leaders who wanted to speak to Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi’s top aide, Mr Singh is now a prime target for many who feel he over-regulated who could meet the Congress vice-president. Some Congress leaders have been heard complaining that they could not get an audience with Mr Gandhi for six months due to the Kanishka Singh. Son of a former diplomat and Rajasthan governor SK Singh, Kanishka quit his investment banker’s job on Wall Street and has been working with Mr. Gandhi since 2003. Over period of time he started having enormous clout, as he became the eyes and ears of Rahul Gandhi, looking over his speeches, travel plans and meetings with Congress leaders.
Madhusudan Mistry: Blamed for last minute changes in Uttar Pradesh, selecting candidates whose chances were bleak. Mr Mistry was Uttar Pradesh in-charge for the party where he is blamed of running a shoddy campaign, with only the two Gandhis winning their seats. He was no match to his BJP counterpart Amit Shah, who turned the tables in UP for the saffron party, securing 71 seats. Mr Mistry lost to Narendra Modi in Vadodara by a whopping 5.5 lakh votes.
Dr G Mohan Gopal: Blamed for adding zilch to the team. Mr Gopal is the Director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies (RGICS), a Congress think tank, included in the party’s election co-ordination committee headed by Rahul Gandhi. Mr Gopal devised the training program for the youth Congress. He has been taking workshops for Congress spokesperson and helped Rahul Gandhi in writing his speeches.
Mohan Prakash: Repeated failures in delivering election results. Rahul Gandhi took the initiative in making Mr Prakash party general secretary and inducted him in his team for the 2014 polls. Senior leaders were not keen on his elevation last year after his failure in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh as poll in-charge.
Ajay Maken: Failed media campaign and lost his own seat. Mr Maken did disastrously from the New Delhi constituency, coming third after BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi and AAP’s Ashish Khaitan. The Congress’ media campaign is being seen as a dud, and he was in charge. While in public, Congress leaders have blamed Dentsu, the advertising agency they had hired, but their Luddite media machinery in comparison to Narendra Modi’s high-tech campaign was there for all to see.
Other members of Team Rahul
Kaushal Vidyarthi: One of the latest entrants in team Rahul, he looks after appointments. He has done his DPhil from Oxford University and has specialized in researching Dalit issues.
Mitakshara Kumari: She was in-charge of overseeing the public relation exercise. She was handpicked by Sam Pitroda in his team, a graduate of the University of Sussex and worked with the European Union in Brussels.
KB Baiju: A former SPG officer, Baiju quit his service in 2010 to join team Rahul as an active member. He looks after security details, and also oversees logistics and media.
Sachin Rao: A Michigan Business School graduate, he is in-charge of Rahul Gandhi’s office, and coordinates with the Youth Congress and NSUI.
May 24, 2014
New Delhi: The old guard and even some young leaders in the Congress have their knives out after the poll rout, and it’s mainly for Rahul Gandhi’s team of advisors. Former minister Milind Deora has been the most vocal, saying that Mr Gandhi’s “non-political advisors” had caused a drift in the organization, while other leaders had also questioned the quality of advice received from Rahul Gandhi. Mr Gandhi’s team had also made some feeble attempts to fight back. Here is a lowdown on the members of Rahul Gandhi’s core team who are under fire.
The six under fire
Jairam Ramesh: Blamed for not being a man of masses and yet call the shots in the Lok Sabha elections. Sources confide that the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi herself hauled up Mr Ramesh on 20 May. On his visit to AICC, Mr Ramesh was again at the receiving end, where he got a severe dressing down from a senior party leader considered close to the Congress chief. “You messed up big time,” Mr Ramesh was told by this leader. Considered among Rahul Gandhi’s closest confidantes, Mr Ramesh is not a very popular man in the party righs now. “Even if we would have won I would have seen that you are out of the cabinet,” he was told by the aforementioned leader. Mr Ramesh ran the Congress war room from the Gurudwara Rakabganj Road which looked after the coordination of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Kanishka Singh: Became a hurdle for party leaders who wanted to speak to Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi’s top aide, Mr Singh is now a prime target for many who feel he over-regulated who could meet the Congress vice-president. Some Congress leaders have been heard complaining that they could not get an audience with Mr Gandhi for six months due to the Kanishka Singh. Son of a former diplomat and Rajasthan governor SK Singh, Kanishka quit his investment banker’s job on Wall Street and has been working with Mr. Gandhi since 2003. Over period of time he started having enormous clout, as he became the eyes and ears of Rahul Gandhi, looking over his speeches, travel plans and meetings with Congress leaders.
Madhusudan Mistry: Blamed for last minute changes in Uttar Pradesh, selecting candidates whose chances were bleak. Mr Mistry was Uttar Pradesh in-charge for the party where he is blamed of running a shoddy campaign, with only the two Gandhis winning their seats. He was no match to his BJP counterpart Amit Shah, who turned the tables in UP for the saffron party, securing 71 seats. Mr Mistry lost to Narendra Modi in Vadodara by a whopping 5.5 lakh votes.
Dr G Mohan Gopal: Blamed for adding zilch to the team. Mr Gopal is the Director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies (RGICS), a Congress think tank, included in the party’s election co-ordination committee headed by Rahul Gandhi. Mr Gopal devised the training program for the youth Congress. He has been taking workshops for Congress spokesperson and helped Rahul Gandhi in writing his speeches.
Mohan Prakash: Repeated failures in delivering election results. Rahul Gandhi took the initiative in making Mr Prakash party general secretary and inducted him in his team for the 2014 polls. Senior leaders were not keen on his elevation last year after his failure in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh as poll in-charge.
Ajay Maken: Failed media campaign and lost his own seat. Mr Maken did disastrously from the New Delhi constituency, coming third after BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi and AAP’s Ashish Khaitan. The Congress’ media campaign is being seen as a dud, and he was in charge. While in public, Congress leaders have blamed Dentsu, the advertising agency they had hired, but their Luddite media machinery in comparison to Narendra Modi’s high-tech campaign was there for all to see.
Other members of Team Rahul
Kaushal Vidyarthi: One of the latest entrants in team Rahul, he looks after appointments. He has done his DPhil from Oxford University and has specialized in researching Dalit issues.
Mitakshara Kumari: She was in-charge of overseeing the public relation exercise. She was handpicked by Sam Pitroda in his team, a graduate of the University of Sussex and worked with the European Union in Brussels.
KB Baiju: A former SPG officer, Baiju quit his service in 2010 to join team Rahul as an active member. He looks after security details, and also oversees logistics and media.
Sachin Rao: A Michigan Business School graduate, he is in-charge of Rahul Gandhi’s office, and coordinates with the Youth Congress and NSUI.
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This story was first published in www.thepoliticalindian.com on May 24, 2014
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