Salman Khurshid, one of the most senior leaders of the Congress Party, has defined the future relationship between Rahul Gandhi and the new president of the Congress party as one between a bigger and lesser leader. Rahul Gandhi will be the bigger leader of the party, he says in an interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire. The new president, whoever it may be, will be the lesser leader.

Khurshid also refused to accept that Mallikarjun Kharge is the "favoured candidate" of the Gandhi family and dismissed all indications, signs and reports that suggest this is the case. He also seemed to agree with Kharge’s view that a consensus to choose the president would be better than the present election process although, he added, it’s now too late for a consensus.

In a 30-minute interview, Khurshid, a former foreign minister and law minister as well as a former general secretary of the Congress party and a present member of its Working Committee, was questioned at length about a range of issues connected with the forthcoming election for a new Congress president.

This includes the following: is Kharge the favourite candidate of the Gandhi family for whom, unofficially and perhaps surreptitiously, they are pulling strings in the background? Is it true that, as reported by the Indian Express, that Kharge only filed his nomination after receiving “Sonia Gandhi’s directions”? Is not the long line of senior Congress leaders who nominated Kharge and accompanied him to file his papers proof of the Gandhi family support? Is this not also established by the fact Kharge spoke to the media from within the premises of the party’s headquarters, unlike Shashi Tharoor who spoke from his home? Do not Kharge’s opening words to the media suggest he has the Gandhi family’s support when he said “Congress party ke aur se” I am filing my nomination? Does not the presence of two general secretaries at his home when he held a press conference on Sunday suggest he is the establishment candidate? Does not the fact that he accompanied Sonia Gandhi to Raj Ghat on Sunday suggest that an indication is being given to the party they should vote for him?

Another issue raised with Khurshid is whether it was right and proper for Kharge to suggest to Shashi Tharoor that a consensus would be better than an election. It’s quite clear that he was through this suggestion asking Tharoor to withdraw.

The interview also discussed the question, did the Gandhis mislead Shashi Tharoor when they assured him that they would not anoint a preferred candidate? It also raises the question has Tharoor been used by the Gandhis to create a façade of credibility for this election behind which their preferred candidate can be pushed through?

Finally, the interview discusses in detail the role Rahul Gandhi will play after a new president is elected. Salman Khurshid endorses a view expressed by P. Chidambaram that there’s a distinction between the president of the Congress party and the "leader of the Congress party". It was in this part of the discussion that Salman Khurshid came up with the concept of a bigger and lesser leader of the Congress party. He clearly said that Rahul Gandhi would be the bigger leader. The new president, whoever he is, would be the lesser leader. However, in making this distinction, Khurshid refused to accept this means the new president will be "subordinate" to Rahul Gandhi.

Towards the end of the interview, Khurshid said that the Gandhis are and will remain all powerful and the most important people in Congress. This, he said, is a fact of life. However, he also added that the new president would evolve a relationship with the Gandhis and over a period of time that could determine or change how important and powerful the Gandhis are.

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