On the slippery slope

But he was ill-prepared for the taskshe undertook. To the cheers of Congress workers, he railed against power-brokers and surrounded himself with fresh new faces. The former thrived and it was not long before the latter abandoned the party or went into brokering on their own account.Arun Singh, the sanyasi in the hills, is a silent reminder of the slippery slope that lies before all those to whom sycophantic Congressmen give absolute power. Certainly Sonia Gandhi must bear some responsibilities since the party is convinced it needs her name. She may be the unifying symbol for party workers today but should make no mistake about the difference between symbols and the reality. Sycophancy comes easily to Congressmen and is not to be confused with loyalty. Beneath the voices in unison asking her to become supreme boss is dissension between Congress leaders to resolve which, in classic form, they surrender authority to her. This is where the temptation begins. As party chief and CPP leader Indira Gandhi exercised her authority to bring factionalleaders to order and unite the party. But pretty soon maintaining party unity by central diktat became an excuse for keeping challengers at bay. Divide and rule was her method to retain total control of the party. The decline of the Congress is the direct consequence of her authoritarian methods.

It is early days yet, but the first signs under the new dispensation are discouraging. When politicians defeated in the polls like Oscar Fernandes and Santosh Mohan Dev are given tickets to the Rajya Sabha on the morning after, the message is that the rewards go to those who make themselves useful to the party chief. What the people say is irrelevant. The same is true of the six-member political advisory group in which only two have earned their places there the hard way by successful grassroots work and the rest by grace of Madam Gandhi. It is not going to be easy for the Congress to build a democratic organisation and collective leadership on the ruins of a monarchical party. But it should be obvious to all thatthe Congress is asking for trouble by going back to its old ways.