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Is there a difference of approach between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her general secretary son Rahul Gandhi?
The delays in decision-making have led to this serious allegation. Sources in Congress claim that as the party and government are facing literally a new crisis every day, it this has led to a growing sense of unease.
There are reports, which could not be confirmed, that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have varying perceptions bordering on differences on what is the best way to run the affairs of the Congress at this critical juncture when the leadership itself has come under serious attack, and the party and the government are failing to give the impression of a unified entity.
Sources say that over the last year the impending reshuffle in the All India Congress Committee and consequently in the Union Cabinet was deferred a number of times since Rahul is learnt to have had his own views on who should be in and who should be out, while Sonia is seen to be comfortable with continuing a number of persons in her team without wanting to rock the boat too much.
It is learnt that Rahul has been advising drastic changes in the composition of her team within the party on the plea that many of them have been there for 'too long' and have nothing new to offer. It's reliably learnt that Rahul is against the status quo.
Insiders say that whatever lists the party puts up, Rahul have been rejecting them on the grounds that till Congress undergoes basic 'structural' changes, there is no point in undertaking the exercise as a cosmetic effort as it can no longer serve the purpose of infusing the party with new ideas.
The AICC reshuffle and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's desire to reshuffle his cabinet are inter-linked. Dr Singh has been waiting since long to get some new faces in the Cabinet. But the mother and son's team has not finalised the list for the reshuffle in the party, say sources.
Sources say the government is fighting with its back to the wall on a number of crucial issues and so far the PM has been unsuccessful in resolving any of them.
There is no clear line on the ongoing Telangana crisis, the party's Andhra Pradesh boat is rocking more than ever with Jaganmohan Reddy sitting on a fast in the national capital with 24 Congress MLAs from the state.
Also, the PM has been unable to shed off the tag of heading one of the most corrupt governments India has ever seen. The prices of essential goods have skyrocketed and the PM has no formula to arrest this rise or suggest a formula -- except that he wants his friend and confidante Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to be made the finance minister, a move on which Sonia Gandhi is unwilling to oblige him.
In such a scenario would the PM and the Congress president be able to focus on putting together a team which can run the party and the government for the next couple of years? This question is doing the rounds within the ruling party particularly since both of them and even Rahul Gandhi have different perceptions on who should be in and who should be out.
Like Rahul, the prime minister wants to undertake a reshuffle which involves 'out of the box' thinking, said a senior leader; and this means cutting out the dead wood and the non-performing ministers while promoting those who have done well and bringing in additional talent.
But Sonia Gandhi is not comfortable with many of the proposed changes. A party functionary said she has to look at the political fallout of these decisions and ensure that all sections and factions are duly represented.
Coupled with this is her sense that some Congress chief ministers need to be changed and this also has to be incorporated in the master plan.
Both the party and government are on tenterhooks. But, as one party functionary put it, the main question to be asked is whether any of these proposed changes could bail out the party and the government from the crisis it finds itself in?