Congress wants a regent, a placeholder for Rahul Gandhi. But who can combine political sagacity with a saintly heart? Ashok Gehlot, the loyal one, has weakened Sonia Gandhi at a vulnerable moment. If she relents, the aura of command gets blown apart. Congress has become a puzzled jigsaw rather than a jigsaw puzzle, a combination of small cardboard pieces that no longer add up to a coherent picture
TCA Raghavan is a former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and Singapore. His first book, Attendant Lords: Abdur Rahim and Bairam Khan: Courtiers and Poets in Mughal India, was awarded the Mohammad Habib Prize by the Indian History Congress. He is also the author of The People Next Door: The Curious History of India’s Relations with Pakistan and History Men: Jadunath Sarkar, G S Sardesai, Raghubir Sinh and Their Quest for India’s Past. His latest book is Circles of Freedom: Love, Friendship and Loyalty in the Indian National Struggle