It146;s simple, Sonia

It is clear that the Congress is trying out all the tried and tested methods to deflect the urgency of this moment. Spreading the blame so thin that it sticks to no one. Hiding behind its Leader. Alleviating the need for prompt action by promising yet more elaborate ceremonials of deliberation. Or loudly demanding the most easily achieved, and least effective, forms of penitence, like another shuffle of the AICC pack. In the aftermath of what must rank as one of the most unsettling round of verdicts against the party in recent times, Sonia8217;s party shows no signs of piercing through the accumulated layers of complacency and denial to look the new political reality in the eye. The defeats in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have shown up the real extent of its disconnect with the changing polity and the new voter. While it bows and scrapes before the Leader, a new generation of voters, untouched by any empathy with or awe of the Family, has lost interest and moved on. As it basks in its bubble, arrogant and alone, the BJP has sewn up alliances to entrench itself in areas where its committed cadres are not up to the task. Where it is weighed down by its dependence on the Leader, the BJP has nurtured a bright-eyed team at its second rung, eager to do battle, in the TV studio and outside it.

The Congress has seemed terribly dated as an organisation these elections. It doesn8217;t need a round of easy scalps, another CWC meet, certainly not another earnest committee, to make 2004 a more equal battle. It is so much easier said than done, but all it needs is for Congressmen to cast a more unafraid look within.