Click to play videoNew Delhi: Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh is the face of the Congress from another era, someone who is one of the senior most ministers in the UPA today. But now, as the Congress prepares to enter an election year, Singh finds himself at the heart of an emerging battle between the party's old guard and its generation next.
It’s always been a dilemma within the Congress – should the veterans who are master poll strategists be replaced by the young leaders. After all, it’s the youth who the modern India looks upto.
The HRD Minister's brand of politics hasn't gone down well with the young brigade in the Congress. The ‘future challenges group’ of which Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is a key member believes that HRD is a ministry, which must have a younger and more modern face.
There has even been a suggestion that Singh be appointed the Maharashtra governor when SM Krishna moves to Karnataka next month.
But that is easier said than done. As a self-proclaimed champion of the backward classes and Muslims, there is anxiety within the party that his removal would send a wrong signal and could harm the party electorally.
The contentious areas are apparent – Rahul, who is also a member of the HRD Parliamentary Standing Committee, wants foreign universities to open shop while Singh is against the idea.
Rahul wants greater focus on higher education institutes of merit. Singh, on the other hand, wants to introduce reservations in IITs and IIMs also.
Congress itself is trying to play down the differences between Singh and the party's younger leadership. “The senior people have experience. But the young have always found place in the organization,” Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said.
So, while Rahul may complain of growing distance between the youth and Government, effecting a change in guard may prove far more difficult than he might have imagined.
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