Yet, the biggest obstacle to that ambition may not be the BJP. It may again be the very allies whose support Rahul Gandhi will need to reach the top. For Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the road to 7, Lok Kalyan Marg (formerly Race Course Road), or, more accurately, the Prime Minister’s Office in a new India, is becoming a little more complex with every passing year. The Congress has been steadily building the case that Rahul Gandhi should be the natural Prime Ministerial face of the INDIA bloc in 2029.
Congress leaders in the state have now claimed that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and TVK (Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam) leader Vijay has backed Rahul Gandhi as the INDIA bloc’s Prime Ministerial candidate. Congress leader Tharahai Cuthbert has even dismissed reports of a rift and maintained that Vijay and Rahul share mutual respect. Mamata Banerjee had demonstrated that the Trinamool Congress had its own national ambitions and did not necessarily see the Congress as the unquestioned leader of the opposition. Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP had similarly sought political space independent of Congress. Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, meanwhile, has emerged as a powerful player in Uttar Pradesh and has its own calculations about who should lead the opposition nationally. This is the central contradiction Rahul Gandhi faces- Congress wants the INDIA bloc to behave like a coalition led by the largest national opposition party, while several regional parties see the alliance primarily as a vehicle for defeating the BJP-not necessarily for making Rahul Gandhi Prime Minister. For that, Congress must answer a more difficult question – how many seats can it realistically win on its own, and how dependent will it remain on regional allies?
A Congress minister went so far as to threaten resignation if TVK refused to endorse Rahul Gandhi for 2029.
Only days earlier, the Congress-TVK alliance was under considerable strain over reports of a ‘Vijay for PM’ campaign.
His political communication has become sharper, his parliamentary interventions have acquired greater visibility and the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ gave him an image that was markedly different from the caricature of the reluctant politician that his opponents had successfully constructed. But a stronger Congress does not automatically translate into Rahul Gandhi becoming the consensus Prime Ministerial candidate. The Congress’ continuing love for its scion never lets the party lose hope in Rahul and they point out to his positive transformation since 2014. The 2024 Lok Sabha election also gave Congress a psychological boost. The party improved substantially on its 2019 tally, while Rahul Gandhi emerged as the Leader of the Opposition.
