Stable Unstable: Rahul Gandhi’s Horse Analogy For Old Guard Stirs The Congress Pot Yet Again

Last Updated:June 04, 2025, 16:57 IST

While Rahul Gandhi didn’t name anyone directly, his message seems to be clear: it’s time for the lame horses, or the non-performing senior leaders, to step aside.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (PTI File)

Rahul Gandhi has once again stirred the political pot within the Congress party by making a reference to horses, indicating seniors in the party needed to step down. Speaking at the Congress Workers Convention in Bhopal, Gandhi drew a sharp comparison between three types of horses — those paraded at weddings (“baraat ka ghoda“), racehorses, and lame horses.

While he didn’t name anyone directly, his message seems to be clear: it’s time for the lame horses, or the non-performing senior leaders, to step aside. And judging by the visible discomfort of some attendees, including senior leader Kamal Nath, the remarks hit close to home.

“The district president has come here, and there will be some of you who work for the Congress party with full strength and there will be some who are a little tired or who are not in a good mood, who are taking too much tension. Now we have to differentiate between a racehorse and a wedding horse. Earlier, I used to say that there are two types. Kamal Nath had said that the Congress party sometimes sends a racehorse to the wedding procession and sometimes makes the wedding horse stand in the race line. But there is a third category, which is a lame (langda) horse, so we have to differentiate. We have to retire the lame horse, so this change has to be brought…," Gandhi said.

This isn’t the first time Rahul Gandhi has challenged the old guard of the party. When he first entered active politics, he declared his mission to reform the Congress and end what he called the “tyranny of the seniors." His vision involved infusing young blood into the system and entrusting them with key responsibilities. While this strategy did lead to several young leaders being promoted, the Congress’s continued electoral setbacks cast doubt on the effectiveness of his approach and the performance of those he backed.

These failures provided an opportunity for the old guard to reassert their influence. The formation of the G-23 — a group of senior Congress leaders who questioned the party’s direction under Rahul Gandhi — was a visible expression of that resistance. It was also a reminder that sidelining the veterans wouldn’t be as easy as Gandhi might have hoped.

In states like Gujarat and Bihar, attempts to democratise the party structure through internal elections brought in younger faces, but the results were far from transformative. Many of these new leaders failed to make an electoral impact. In Madhya Pradesh too, Gandhi was reportedly upset after what he believed was a winnable election that slipped away due to a sluggish and poorly managed campaign. The blame, in many quarters, was laid at the feet of senior leaders like Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, who were accused of lacking energy and failing to select effective candidates.

However, the Opposition was quick to pounce. Haryana Minister and BJP leader Anil Vij asked which kind of horse the Congress leader considers himself to be. “If Rahul Gandhi calls all his workers horses, having different varieties, including procession, race, and battle, then tell him his quality. Which horse is he? Does he belong to the procession horses, lame horses, or war horses?" he asked.

Madhya Pradesh BJP President and party MP VD Sharma took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, saying he doesn’t even know how to ride a horse. “He should first worry about managing his own party’s ‘horses’ before making such remarks," he said.

While Rahul Gandhi’s latest remarks about retiring “crippled horses" underscore his continuing disappointment, the larger question is whether he can do it himself with critics asking the same.

News politics Stable Unstable: Rahul Gandhi’s Horse Analogy For Old Guard Stirs The Congress Pot Yet Again