All say yes to Sonia but she8217;s a bit shaky

In her unusually long speech today, she owned 8220;prime responsibility for our poor performance in these elections.8221; Though she said, 8220;I am more than willing to accept whatever judgement or action the party chooses to pass or take,8221; this isn8217;t being seen as an offer to quit.

The fact is that while Sonia has not proved to be a vote-getter for the party and her videshi status may have been an issue in some urban centres, there is no alternative to her. Congressleaders, in awe of the Gandhi-Nehru name, would rather have her than each other as leaders.

But while there is no challenge to her, she is no longer an undisputed leader. Minutes before the CPP meeting today, she had to assure some leaders like Jitendra Prasada that she would become Leader of the Opposition and that the announcement would be made in a couple of days. In her statement, however, she was more ambivalent and promised 8220;to spend as much time as is possible in the House consistent with my other responsibility.8221;

Pranab Mukherji, Ambika Soni and Oscar Fernandes had set the ball rolling a couple of days ago by resigning as party general secretaries to strengthen Sonia8217;s hands to recast the organisation. The spate of resignations have, however, suddenly stopped, though only a couple of days ago, there was talk of securing the resignations of the four Congress chief ministers, PCC chiefs, and other AICC office-bearers to enable Sonia to go in for a revamp.Insiders say that signals were sentfrom 10, Janapth to put a halt to the resignations for the moment. For Congressmen had begun to question that if others can be held accountable, why not the Congress president.

Sonia has also sought to distance herself from the coterie in her address to the CPP today. She said, 8220;Yes, I may have made mistakes. I could not follow my own principles outlined 18 months ago8230; On that occasion, I pledged that our party would concentrate on working at the grassroots to regain the confidence of the people8230;8221; Though she did not spell out the mistakes, she has given enough a hint that it was a mistake to go with Laloo Yadav in Bihar and with Jayalalitha in Tamil Nadu. Congress functionaries in these two states have already said as much.

Sonia8217;s own instinct had been against bailing out the Rabri government in Parliament earlier this year. She was also opposed to destabilising the Vajpayee government after the 1998 November elections which gave the Congress thumping victories in three states. Her decision toattend Jayalalitha8217;s tea party made the image of two conniving women stick when the Vajpayee ministry was defeated by a single vote. And finally she bought the line that the President would call her to form the government after the fall of the NDA ministry, and she made the terrible mistake of claiming the support of 272 MPs in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Since the party8217;s defeat, access to Sonia has become easier once again and she is meeting many more people. In the last six months or so, she has relied heavily on the coterie.

Though the BJP has won because it got its alliances right and the Congress has fared badly for its inability to do this, Sonia has called for a return to Pachmarhi Declaration which talked about the Congress going it alone.It is possible that she may hold another Pachmarhi-type session which would help her reestablish her leadership.