NEW DELHI, Nov 26: The threat posed by Tamil pride and southern consolidation against the party appears to have made the Congress jittery.The political situation seemed to have deescalated today with the Congress Working Committee's (CWC) resolution. But at the end of the day stalemate reigned supreme, as United Front remained united. While reiterating the demand for the removal of the DMK Ministers, the apex body of the Congress did not force the issue by withdrawing support as it was expected to do. It is still too early to conclude that the Congress will not pull the plug. Its actions show that it is caught in a bind and does not know how to get out of it. For once the Congress has acted in a most un-Congress fashion. Normally if it shut a door it kept a window open for a retreat. But this time, it left no exits for itself by pitching the demand for the DMK's ouster so high that it cannot backtrack. The party is like Abhimanyu caught in a `chakravyooh'. The difference is that while Abhimanyu became a martyr, the Congress is not able to jump into the battlefield.The AIADMK is also learnt to have cold shouldered the Congress, and this has given a rude shock to party leaders. Sonia Gandhi is reportedly going to Chennai on Thursday for a function of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and it will be interesting to see if Jayalalitha, an old friend of the Gandhi family, meets her there.The TMC has given enough of an indication that it cannot delink from the DMK on this issue. All these are straws in the wind about the prevailing sentiment in the southern State. It can only mean that Justice M C Jain's faux pas, about the deep nexus between the LTTE and the Tamil people, has the potential to rebound on the Congress in the South where the party was hoping to gain in an election. Congress leaders are still trying to assess the situation before coming to a final view. For if the ``southern card'' against the Congress clicks, it could mean decimation for the party both in the north and the south.It is clear from the CWC's unanimous resolution that the hawks were reined in. Given their stance of the last ten days and the nature of the issueinvolved, that could only be possible if they sensed that Sonia Gandhi did not want to force the issue. She has not said anything publicly, and sources close to her say that she has never indicated to anyone that she would campaign for the party. That is a decision she would make at the ``appropriate'' time. But Sonia could not also be unmindful of the feedback from the South, and her own moves would be guided by it. Though the issue is emotive, she would not want to campaign for the Congress and expose herself if there is the possibility of the issue recoiling on her and the party. It would also end her mystique once and for all.The Congress escalated the issue in the hope that she would campaign for the party. This was an impression that party MPs were given about a week ago. But the situation seemed to change perceptibly 3-4 days ago, and there were signals that she may not jump into active politics.While she was seen talking animatedly to Kesri and Abid Hussain for a long time at the dinner hosted by Natwar Singh last week, she gave the Congress president short shrift.
