Congress knows what ails it, but cannot take the pill yet

Persisting differences among its leaders are costing the Congress dearly, but the party high command is reluctant to crack the whip.

Persisting differences among its leaders are costing the Congress dearly, but the party high command is reluctant to crack the whip.

After the party rout in MCD elections, AICC general secretary in charge Ashok Gehlot lamented that PCC chief Ram Babu Sharma and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit did not work in tandem. 8220;The results could have been somewhat better if Dikshit and Sharma would have worked together,8221; he said. A few months back, Gehlot had told the local leadership to realise that they would 8220;sink or swim together8221;. Other than such gentle reminders, the leadership has not held its regional satraps accountable and the internal rivalries are taking electoral toll.

The party8217;s recent election losses in Punjab and Uttarakhand and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation were also mainly due to internal feuds.

In Delhi, Dikshit took a leaf straight out of former Uttarakhand Chief Minister N D Tiwari8217;s book. Tiwari had refused to campaign in the Assembly elections, giving a signal to his Brahmin community that he was not interested. Similarly, Dikshit, who took the credit for the MCD victory in 2002, distanced herself from the elections this time. Supporters of Dikshit and Sharma cut down more Congress votes than the BJP ones.

In the BMC elections, PCC Chief Gurudas Kamat and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh could not combine their acts.

After UP, it will be the turn of Gujarat to go to polls in December and Congress leaders in the state are on an overdrive to bolster their chief ministerial claims. Naresh Rawal, Bharat Solanki and S S Waghela are aspirants for the post that has not come to the party since 1989. 8220;In Gujarat, all leaders realise that they have to work together to regain power. There is no factionalism there,8221; claims B K Hariprasad, AICC General Secretary.

Karnataka is another state where elections could come any time, given the unstable coalition of BJP and JDS. There too Congress leaders are fighting it out between themselves. Dharam Singh, S K Patil, Mallikarjun Kharge are aspirants along with Siddaramiah, a recent entrant into the party. Maharashtra Governor S M Krishna also interferes in the Congress politics of his home state.