Shashi Tharoor stands for clarity

The vacancy at the top — which came into view more than two months ago with Rahul Gandhi’s resignation as president — is hurting the Congress. That’s evident. Recent events in Karnataka, for instance, amply demonstrated that there was little coherence, and no one to shore up the party’s morale, making loss of power inevitable.

Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, now a third-term legislator, has lamented in an interview that “lack of clarity at the top” is hurting the party. Is there a reason he is stating the obvious?

The more conservative view in the party — typically held by crusty old men — is that the most senior general secretary — who was a long-serving treasurer until not too long ago — is running the show perfectly well, and that there is no cause to do anything in a panic, or in a rush.

Perhaps Mr Tharoor rejects this comfortable view of history. It’s good if that’s the case. It may be even better if the Kerala MP speaks not just for himself but is on the quiet also being a proxy for Mr Gandhi, with whom he apparently shares an equation. All processes need intervention after a critical point has passed. For the Congress, that moment has come.

It’s also good that Mr Tharoor recognises that dynasty is not the answer at the present historical juncture and has refrained from proposing Mr Gandhi’s sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. What he has done is to ask for a total overhaul of the leadership, namely, election not just for the next party president but for the Congress Working Committee too, sink or swim. Such a view is likely to have considerable support.