As Rahul Gandhi stands poised to lead the Congress, hopefully to revival, there is something his mother Sonia Gandhi and party chief of 19 long years can do for him – take a break from politics.

The 47-year-old Gandhi scion, still a political novice, must walk alone and face the labourious and uphill task of bringing the Congress back to power in the country – whether in 2019 or 2024 – as party president.

Rahul already has a huge burden of expectation on his shoulders. In the 132-year history of the Congress, the Nehru-Gandhi family has held the party’s reins for a good 45 years. Motilal Nehru led for two years, then Jawaharlal Nehru for 11 years, Indira Gandhi for seven, Rajiv Gandhi for six, and Sonia for 19 – and none of them failed as a leader.

Motilal Nehru died in the freedom struggle, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi died while leading the country as Prime Minister, and Sonia, who has been the longest-serving party president, led the Congress to win the general elections in both 2004 and 2009.

Not just that Rahul has to pass the leadership test without looking to his mother for lesson, he also has to contend with criticism – the first being about internal party democracy (or the lack thereof).

Inner-party democracy is a problem cutting across party lines in India, even though the BJP has consistently harped on the Congress’ dynastic rule.

For instance, when Amit Shah was elected as BJP president in 2014-15, no elections were held. In regional parties such as the BSP, SP and even the CPM, leaders are chosen and not elected. This is true for even the so-to-say unconventional Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), where Arvind Kejriwal has always been the “chosen one”. There is no trace of inner-party democracy anywhere.

Ideally, it would do well for Rahul to accommodate a political challenger, and veteran party leaders such as Shashi Tharoor, Kapil Sibal or anyone else armed with years of experience should give him a contest, for internal democracy is as much the party’s responsibility as it is Rahul or Sonia’s.

The Congress has previously had leaders forcing an election for the president’s post. In 1999, Jitendra Prasad contested against Sonia Gandhi, and in 1997, Sitaram Kesri challenged both Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot. That didn’t change their political stature, though.

Rahul had talked about internal democracy in the US and Britain, where party primaries are held when the leader is elected. Barack Obama had to fight elections with Hillary Clinton to become the Democrats’ presidential candidate and it was a bitterly-fought contest. Later, when he became US president, Obama appointed Hillary as secretary of state – the second most important post in the American establishment. Thus, the challenger was rewarded according to his political weight.

But in the Congress, and even other parties in the country, the trend is to slowly disempower the challenger, like what Indira Gandhi did with YV Chavan and Morarji Desai.

Today, all it needs is 10 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates to nominate somebody to force the elections and throw a challenge to Rahul, as the selection process for the Congress president is similar to the PM’s election. There are about four crore primary members in the Grand Old Party, of which 9,000 are PCC delegates. These delegates elect the national president.

The Congress can, however, ill-afford such an election right now, considering that the Gujarat Assembly election is round the corner and the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to win it.

Rahul’s elevation as Congress president has also triggered speculation about the future of old leaders and the prospects for the younger ones. Rahul’s popularity is lowest among the youth, and for that he is to be blamed.

If you look at India’s history, older and experienced leaders have played a key role on the political field.

Mahatma Gandhi was above 45 years of age when he returned from South Africa. Between 1975 and 1977, the whole campaign against Indira Gandhi was led by Jayaprakash Narayan, in his 70s. The revolt against Rajiv Gandhi was made by VP Singh, who was in his late 60s. And then in 2011-2012, the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement was started by the elderly Anna Hazare.

Rahul has to understand that while it is fashionable to talk about the youth, in politics he has to take everyone along.

Today, two of the oldest chief ministers are from the Congress – Punjab’s Captain Amarinder Singh is in his 70s and Himachal’s Virbhadra Singh is 84.

As a leader, Rahul has to learn to blend in. It is not a question of one against another.

For instance, for the Congress to win in Madhya Pradesh, both Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia have to come together. In Rajasthan, the party will need the leadership of both Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot.

The young Congress president will have to reduce the artificial difference between youth and age, for in a grand old party such as the Congress, there is scope for everyone. One can be appointed as general secretary, while another can be the PCC chief.

He must also revive the dysfunctional central parliamentary board – that means getting more talent into the party – and hold regular sessions of the All India Congress Committee, which last met in 2010 and should actually meet twice a year, according to the party’s constitution.

Under Rahul, it is crucial that the Congress clear its stand on crucial issues and avoid doublespeak. For example, while the party has been supporting the farmers’ agitation, it will have to bring clarity on whether it supports GM crops or not.

The same goes for “secularism”. We have two kinds of “secularisms” in the country – one is the Nehruvian model, which says religion has no place in politics, and the other is Mahatma Gandhi’s, who used to say all religions have their own place. There is a lot of confusion here. The Congress’s image is being projected as “anti-majority community” and Rahul has to take up that issue.

When it comes to communication channels and ways to identify problems, Rahul has to bolster both.

Often, it is the leader who gives direction to the people and sometimes he listens to what they want and formulates policies accordingly. Sonia’s big ideas kept coming from the National Advisory Council. But now, ideas must come from 24, Akbar Road, the Congress headquarters.

The party should give direction to the government, even if it is in the opposition, in terms of policymaking. Rahul must employ in-house thinktanks for ideation, and the ideas must be designed in coherence with Congress culture and constitution.

The last of Rahul’s challenges will be whether he can bring his entire family on board, and it will be interesting to see how he does that.

Talks of roping in his cousin Varun Gandhi into the party fold started during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls earlier this year. But we must not forget the history and bitter rivalry between Indira Gandhi’s two daughters-in-law, Sonia and Maneka Gandhi, Varun’s mother, who is a cabinet minister in the BJP government.

It will be difficult for Varun to abandon the BJP as it will put Maneka in a vulnerable position in the saffron party. Also, in case Varun joins the Congress, what kind of responsibilities will he have?

Similarly, Rahul should take help from sister Priyanka, but if she takes a formal position in the Congress, the two have a different style of functioning, like father-daughter Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi did.

Indira and Sanjay (her son) were different, and so were Sanjay and his brother Rajiv, and Rajiv and wife Sonia. So Priyanka’s role has to evolve, and it cannot be done by an executive order.

Rahul has to look at the recent success in France of Emmanuel Macron and in Britain of Jeremy Corbyn to take heart. Both leaders’ parties stuck to their core ideology, and that was the reason behind their success. France voted for somebody who is left-of-the-centre and so did Britain. It means that even in the West, where the right-wing is on the rise, there is scope for change.

During her tenure, Sonia had no qualms in staying in power in states by forming a coalition with other parties. Rahul too must understand that the umbrella culture does not work anymore. He must review things and take the opinion of other Congressmen rather than make decisions on his own.

The day Rahul takes over as party president, Sonia will have to take a break from politics, because as long as she remains in an advisory capacity, people will continue to knock at her door, including maybe her son.

It will give her a super veto, undermining the newly-coronated party president’s position.

(As told to Amit Bhardwaj. Transcribed by Ayushi Chamoli)