There is nothing like the prospect of a leadership struggle to awaken Congress men and women. Ever since Sonia Gandhi's abilities as a leader were called into question by her own partymen, the Congress has been stirring to life again. There is an air of expectation as though a major change is imminent. It is difficult to say whether the ferment will lead to anything or simply fizzle out as suddenly as it started.It is curious in these early days how often the words ``collective leadership'' trip off Congress tongues. No one is actually owning responsibility for contributing to what lies at the core of the Congress party's latest crisis, its failure to find a politically sustainable position on economic policy. When Congress politicians find that concentrating power in the hands of a single leader is not working out, they start talking about collective leadership. Those are codewords for demanding a change at the top.The focus at the moment seems to be the party organisation, not its lack of ideas and programmes though change on both fronts is necessary. Rajesh Pilot, says in a television interview, ``We have many hard decisions to take in the coming days''. He does not seem to have subsidy cuts, SAIL's restructuring plan, the official disinvestment agenda or proposed changes in labour laws on his mind. He is concerned about the malfunctioning of the party organisation.Jitendra Prasad says his fiery speeches at rallies in Uttar Pradesh are intended to save the Congress and mobilise demoralised cadres. One good thing is Congress leaders are not in denial. It has taken a long time for Pilot and others to acknowledge there is a problem in the organisation. The next crucial step is deciding how the party will resolve its problems, whether by open discussion in party fora or backroom manoeuvres, democratic consensus or decision-making by a clique.It would seem that at least two of its problems are closely interlinked - leadership and direction. It is all very well for the Pilots and the Prasads to concentrate on organisational change but what programmes do they stand for, what new ideas do they bring? Pilot who is apparently impressed by New Labour's return to power in Britain should know that the party reconstructed itself adopting distinctly different programmes from old Labour. By the time the leadership struggle within the Congress party begins in real earnest, it must be hoped there will be a simultaneous struggle for political ideas. When Sonia Gandhi was chosen to lead the party, the overwhelming need was to unite the Congress and prevent its disintegration. That need has not disappeared. But it has also become glaringly obvious that the Congress is headed nowhere unless it clarifies its ideas, especially on economic issues.It is not a case of being pro or anti-economic reform. One of the Congress' finest moments occurred in 1991 when it launched India in a bold new economic direction. The Congress must remain in favour of deregulation and the market economy. Within that broad economic framework it needs to identify itself with specific sets of socio-political policies which will further the interests of the disadvantaged groups the Congress has traditionally represented.
