Rahul scouts for right leaders

Cong bid to regain hold on Telugu states

New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is in search of "right leadership" to steer his party units both in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. His own surveys and the feedback being given by his men from within the party are not satisfactory to him, it is learnt.

Rahul Gandhi has been meeting Congress leaders from both the states on and off here too apart from interacting with them in the recent past by undertaking two padayatras. His search remains elusive to this day in identifying those who could strengthen the party at the grassroot level in both the states.

Though there are dissimilarities at the ground level in the two Telugu states, Telangana is posing a bigger challenge to Rahul than AP itself where the party prospects had got completely wiped out in the last general election due to bifurcation.

Unlike AP, Telangana offers a brighter prospect for him and he is fully confident that even if he finds one leader who is acceptable to all the groups within the party, he would be betting on the winning horse.

But unity or acceptability has been singularly elusive here. With rivalry among leaders peaking in every district, there is little chance of any leader emerging as the one acceptable to all. "People's acceptance is a different issue.

We have a strong cadre in Telangana. We feel the KCR charisma is dwindling due to his erratic governance. However, our own leaders are not that combative," explains a leader playing a key role in the coterie now.

Strangely, even the Congress leaders feel that TDP's Revanth Reddy was far superior in taking on KCR. Moreover, there is no consistency in the attack against KCR, the leadership feels. "Rahul Gandhi is confident that the honeymoon period of KCR will be over shortly.

We need our line-up by then along with a powerful leader or we may lose the ground to Hindutva forces. The fact that Soniaji was responsible for the creation of Telangana state was never highlighted properly nor exploited by us is always puzzling," this loyalist of Rahul adds.

Monday's meeting of Rahul Gandhi with the CLP leaders also saw him interact with K Jana Reddy to seek an update on the Telangana situation. As for Andhra Pradesh, it is a different ball game and Rahul is ready to gamble with any experiment unlike as in Telangana.

All that he expects here is that the party would survive the crisis that has hit it due to bifurcation and retain its base in every district. He is looking for a strong caste-leader here to take on the TDP-BJP combine. "He realizes now that it is all about caste here.

We are looking for a good leader who could be acceptable to one dominant caste plus to some other sections too. Knowing the prevailing circumstances of AP, such a leader would be given a long rope too."

Rahul Gandhi may not be replacing Sonia Gandhi immediately going by the indications, but he certainly has plans to push some names to the important bodies in the party. The AICC itself is one. "Youth, loyalty, experience and field work" are important in identifying such leaders, it is learnt.

The shortlisting may have been over by now, it is being speculated. Those who make it to the list would be surely playing a key role in future in the party affairs in the two states just as in the others.

Rahul is looking at two sets of leaders - those who would be accommodated here to be his eyes and ears and the others to be given the power in the PCCs to play a role in their respective states in future, it is learnt.

By W Chandrakanth