(Image via deccanchronicle.com)
Every time a Congress annual meeting comes up, speculation builds to a crescendo. Will Rahul Gandhi be promoted to President of the Congress party, from being a Vice President? As it rises, it subsides after considering the upcoming elections and reviewing the party’s chances in them.
Given that this may never die out, the Congress Party is taking a leaf out of promotions as done in Indian corporations. Most companies have only 4-5 levels in reality. Engineer, Lead, Manager, Director/General Manager and Vice President after which there can be only one CEO (Two, if you go with what Wipro tried once). Some companies call employees “Chief Executive” without mentioning the officer part. Also, companies use multiple titles like:
Assistant Manager, Associate Manager, Manager, Senior Manager, Assistant General Manager, Associate General Manager, General Manager, Senior General Manager etc.
In sum and substance, the job is the same but the employee changes titles every 2-3 years. This is perceived to keep the person motivated. In fact given that the IT industry, that employs large number of people, is growing at about 8% to 10%, an employee might join and retire as an engineer after having the following titles:
Engineer trainee, Associate Engineer, Assistant Engineer, Engineer, Senior Engineer, Senior and not laid off Engineer, Very Senior Engineer, Long serving very senior engineer, Stupid not to have quit earlier engineer, Awaiting retirement engineer.
Given all this, the Congress Party also envisages a situation where Rahul Gandhi may never be accepted as a President. At the same time, they want to keep him “Engaged” and go around the country actively.
Heretofore, the party has introduced the following titles, which will apply to Rahul only for now.
Senior Vice President
Executive Vice President
Senior Executive Vice President
Assistant President
Associate President
Come on give the poor guy a chance to be President
These titles are expected to give him a runway of 20 years to go into the role. Speaking to media Sonia Gandhi said, “This is nothing new! We had a gentleman as Almost Prime Minister for 10 years!”
The BJP is very concerned with these developments. Amit Shah said, “It is a worrying development that the Congress Party is learning. I thought only we can come up with Jumla statements like ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’ and do the opposite when in power. Now, Congress is catching onto the Jumla bandwagon!”