What has greatly helped in legitimately paving the way for Rahul Gandhi’s ascent and anointment as president of the Congress is the hard grind that the 47-year-old Nehru-Gandhi scion has been put to under BJP governance led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

For more than three years or so, the Congress has been dubbed by Modi and other members of his troupe, including BJP chief Amit Shah, as a virtual oligarchy run by “dynasts” from whom, according to them, the country deserves to be freed summarily and once and for all – as has been the case with British oligarchs and predecessors of the Congress in the past.

Yet, clearing of decks by the Congress on Monday for Rahul’s election to take over the party’s top post from his mother Sonia Gandhi signifies winning over what was posed as an existential crisis for the party and its leaders by the powerful administrators of the day.

The move by the Congress has come when the arsenal against the party had nearly exhausted and Rahul Gandhi rose to give his and the party’s rivals a stiff challenge in their bastion in Gujarat.

Thus, outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi in her address to the Congress Working Committee, held at her 10, Janpath, residence, remarked: “Rahul and many of you colleagues here and in Gujarat are working hard for a positive result in that state. Let us do our best to prove that people are not fooled and that they will make the right decision there.”

Sonia’s reasons for making such a call were clearly spelt out by her as she, among other things, went on to say: “The Modi government is also forcefully trying to change the history of modern India by systematically erasing the contributions made by Pandit Nehruji and Indira Gandhi – be it through rewriting school textbooks, through malicious misinformation and propaganda, or ignoring with disdain the importance of the birth centenary of Indiraji. This vilification is blatant for all to see.”

So the surviving among an illustrious line of Congress leaders with the Nehru-Gandhi link on Monday, or a day after the 100^th birth anniversary of the late Indira Gandhi, actually did hit back against their biggest rivals somewhat unreservedly.

And they had good reason for this at a time when the party baton has to change hands between mother and son by early, or at the most mid-December, through the election for the party’s top post.

Yet, the Congress’ move is once again bound to rake up the issue of democracy carrying the burden of dynasty. The two are oxymorons and among others the famed American writer and India watcher Stanley Wolpert has tried to deal with the issue of dynasty often accompanying democracy in India, only to end up to find its deep roots in the politics of the country since yore.

Once, Wolpert pointed out that the Hindi cognate for politics or rajniti is made of raja and niti, and so dynasty is difficult to be wished away, or completely ruled out, in the Indian context.

And as Wolpert may once again feel vindicated by the stewardship of the Congress going to Rahul Gandhi, historians back home have pointed out that the Congress was born more than 130 years ago when there was no other party in the country, nor was there the possibility of any other party, or opposition, taking shape anytime soon.

Thus, according to the late professor Bipin Chandra, the Congress was not only named after US legislature but also soon opted for a structure for the party that was akin to the main pillars of democracy where the AICC, or All India Congress Committee, was meant to serve as a virtual parliament and CWC as the main executive selected from among AICC members. Similar structures under PCCs, Pradesh Congress Committees, came up later.

Thus, democracy has somehow been inbuilt in the Congress since its inception and some of its dynastical phases have mainly been because of the tragic end that Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi met.

In recent history, the party gave the helm of the country to Dr Manmohan Singh for a good 10 years. So was the case when the late PV Narasimha Rao took over as Prime Minister for a full term.

Significantly, Singh still continues to be one of the main and among the top few faces in the party. Rahul was thought to be learning the ropes of politics under Singh when Modi ended Congress rule quite comprehensively. But somehow, Rahul has turned out to learn faster amid powerlessness of his family and the party.

He is now poised to lead the Congress, removing the question that so many Congressmen, among others, often ask, wondering “as to who decides, or runs the party”.

Rahul’s rise has also kicked off speculation about the future or likely role that Sonia is going to play in the party after its takeover by her son. The simple answer to this is that her moral stature is going to be a few notches up by relinquishing the top party post.

This is a step further to her decision to say no to the prime ministership of the country over 13 years ago, adding tremendously to her moral position both within and outside the party.