The lack of a cogent policy continues to bedevil the Congress as is manifest in some recent developments in the party. Leader of the Opposition Sharad Pawar's statement that the party was not prepared to pull down the BJP-led government at this juncture as it would only cause chaos and its repudiation by some senior Congress leaders are pointers to the dismal state of affairs in the party.Small wonder that the average Congressman is confused about the party line. Party chief Sonia Gandhi's rhetoric at her Tuesday rally will hardly remove that confusion. It is true that many parties in the Opposition and some in the ruling coalition are prepared to back a Congress government at the Centre, provided the latter takes the initiative.The stability of such a government is in doubt when the Congress will be hard put to satisfy parties like the AIADMK and the CPI(M) in order to continue in power. While the hesitation of the party to strike at the BJP government is understandable in these circumstances, this hasgiven rise to bizarre situations.The split in the Congress in Goa and the readiness shown by the breakaway group, styling itself as the Rajiv Congress, to join hands with the BJP to destabilise the Pratapsing Rane government is one such. Of course, in Uttar Pradesh former Congressmen had shown little compunction in joining the BJP ministry but what makes the Goa case different is that the renegades swear by their loyalty to 10, Janpath.Similarly, the party has not covered itself with glory in the manner it struck a deal with the United Democratic Party in Meghalaya to extend the tenure of B.B. Lyngdoh as chief minister. In any case, the tottering Lyngdoh ministry would not have lasted long. Instead of braving it out, the Congress chose the easier option of reaching an understanding with the UDP so that its leader D.D. Lapang can succeed as chief minister after six months.Little did it occur to the party that in doing so it was paying scant regard to public opinion as expressed in the last electionswhen the tide was clearly against the Congress. The party high command may not have played a direct role in any of these developments, but that only goes to show that the party president has no clue about what is happening in the party. Surely this does not show her in a good light.The inability of the party to take a stand on various issues has proved costly to the organisation. For instance, even months after the nuclear blast, the party is yet to take a definite stand on it. What the Congress leaders told US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott when he recently interacted with them is at best conjecture. The futile bid the Congress made to capitalise on the temple construction work at Ayodhya was also symptomatic of the indecisiveness plaguing the party leadership.All this does not redound to the credit of a party that has ruled the country for over four decades and which has a surfeit of experience and talent in its ranks. To channelise these energies properly is the task of the leadershipwhich, unfortunately, has proved unequal to the task. The party's dilemma lies in precisely this.
