NEW DELHI: The corridors of the capital are abuzz with speculation as to who might be Congress' candidate for Prime Minister — if a candidate should indeed be named before the
2014 Lok Sabha elections, and if
Rahul Gandhi decides he doesn't wish to position himself for the job.
Meanings are being read in Sonia Gandhi's statement on Sunday, after the electoral debacle, that a candidate would be named at an "opportune time". Although several senior leaders in the party have refused to attach any significance whatsoever to the statement and have pointed to its very open-ended and non-specific nature, that hasn't stopped New Delhi's rumour mills from whirring.
There are the usual names from within —
finance minister P Chidambaram, defence minister
A K Antony, and home minister
Sushil Kumar Shinde.
Then, there is a wildcard entry — UDAI chairman and the man behind Aadhaar:
Nandan Nilekani.
In fact, some of the recent attacks on Aadhaar are being traced back to the ( i will like to put "perceived" here) emergence of Nilekani as a dark horse.
When TOI called him, Nilekani's immediate and only reaction was, "Complete rubbish. This must be a figment of someone's over-active imagination."
Among the things that are said to be going in his favour:
* Technocrat with no political base of his own;
* Clean image;
* Known to business;
* Good interpersonal skills;
* Was one of the founding members of Infosys, who is not only wealthy in his own right, but has also given away a lot of it;
* Now has four-and-a-half years experience in government: as head of the Unique Identification project has had to work across states, parties and ministries to implement one of the world's most ambitious and politically difficult public projects;
* Will be a good face to project globally;
* Is said to have a good equation with Sonia and especially Rahul;
* At 58, is relatively young;
* As an alumnus of IIT, a symbol of modern-day meritocracy;
* His wife, Rohini, has impeccable credentials in the non-profit sector, having been a prime driver of a number of NGOs and a contributor to a few others;
* Can possibly draw an army of young volunteers like the Aam Aadmi Party has.
That he is not averse to the rough and tumble of politics is obvious from his as-yet-unannounced decision to contest the Lok Sabha elections from South Bangalore, for which he already has a large campaign team on the ground and running.
Obviously, the opposition from within Congress will be intense. There are leaders with many, many more years of experience in politics and government, and very strong credentials in running ministries. Chidambaram, in particular, has held some of the most critical portfolios at the Centre, from home to finance. He has a great reputation for efficiency and energy, as a reformer, and for his grasp of complex issues. Among the others, Antony is known to have the absolute trust of the Gandhis, while Shinde, a Dalit, speaks good Hindi, has the experience of running a coalition government in Maharashtra and has an impeccable track record as a loyalist.
Nilekani, by comparison, is still a novice. Also, Manmohan Singh's performance is seen to have robbed technocrats of some of their sheen, at least in the political arena.
If Nilekani's candidature gains currency, Aadhaar is likely to come under even greater attack even as officials in the Unique Identification Authority of India point to the fact that 510 million cards have already been issued and the target of 600 million will be met in the next few months. They see it as testimony to the execution skills of Nilekani and his ability to navigate the system, often in the face of open as well as veiled opposition from within.
Discounting the speculation around Nilekani, a senior Congress leader said, "First and foremost, this assumes that a name will be announced, and that Rahul isn't interested. Just two days ago, he vowed to work at transforming the Congress organisation. Does that sound like he wants to step aside?"
But there is a section within the Congress that believes Congress should make its choice known. Said another senior party leader, "BJP and AAP have benefited from the fact that voters have a face — Modi and Kejriwal. Of course, Kejriwal is the founder of his party, so there's no question of not projecting him. But
yes, naming a PM candidate can have a downside too, especially in a party like Congress."
