HVK Archives: From Calcutta to nowhere
From Calcutta to nowhere - The Indian Express
Editorial
()
11 August 1997
Title: From Calcutta to nowhere
Author: Editorial
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 11, 1997
Nothing could have been more pleasing to Congressmen than Sitaram Kesri's
categorical assertion that the party would be back in power within a year.
The party president would have done better if he had also indicated to his
partymen, who are yet to recover from the shock of losing power, why he
believed that a Congressman would hoist the national flag on the Red Fort
next year. The archetypal, apparatchik that Kesri is, he knew that power
was the best bait for his party colleagues. After all, the recent plenary
session at Calcutta was the first to be held after Independence when the
Congress was not in power at the Centre. Congressmen who expected Kesri to
unfold his plan to win the next elections must have felt cheated for there
was no indication of it. If anything, the 80th session truly reflected the
state of hopelessness that the, party has been in. In fact, the lack of a
clear-cut political strategy was manifest in all that the party did at the
eastern metropolis. For instance, when 'the Congress ridiculed the UF as a
"group of jostling rivals," it did not realise its own culpability in
allowing the same bunch to come to power.
The confused state of the party was reflected in all the resolutions which,
after the watering down they underwent, lost whatever bite they had. The
much-hyped apology on Babri Masjid is unlikely to please Muslims as there
is no commitment on rebuilding the demolished structure. In any case,
resolutions do not win elections. If Kesri had the numbers on his side, he
and not I.K. Gujral would have succeeded H.D. Deve Gowda as Prime Minister.
The chances of the Congress cobbling together a majority in the present
House are bleak. The only way in which the Congress can come back to power
is by winning a general election. The possibility of an early poll cannot
be ruled out particularly when the United Front Government seems incapable
of piloting even key Bills for want of adequate floor coordination. But
will such a poll be to the advantage of the Congress? Yes, the UF might
have lost its credibility to win an election, but then there is no
political or psephological trend to suggest that the Congress' fortunes are
on the upswing. By conceding the opposition space to the BJP, it has
forfeited its right even to capitalise on the failures of the UF. Besides,
the last two elections won by the Congress were solely on account of the
sympathy factor.
Much will, therefore, depend on Kesri's capacity to sway the masses.
Unfortunately for the party, his ability to win popular elections is in
severe doubt despite the thumping majority with which he romped home in the
recent party elections. The organisational elections provided him an
opportunity to rejuvenate the moribund party but he did nothing of the
sort, so much so that there are states like Kerala where elections could
not even be held. Instead, Kesri has been busy entering into deals like the
one in Bihar to facilitate Laloo Yadav to rule by proxy to fortify his own
position should a vacancy arise for the post of Prime Minister. Small
wonder that the Calcutta session failed to show any direction to Congressmen.
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