Sonia bid to boost pro-poor image

NEW DELHI, NOV 21: The Congress' decision to press for an adjournment motion on the plight of farmers is a desperate attempt to spruce up ...

NEW DELHI, NOV 21: The Congress8217; decision to press for an adjournment motion on the plight of farmers is a desperate attempt to spruce up its image as a credible Opposition to the ruling National Democratic Alliance as well as to try to regain its traditional image of a 8220;pro-poor party8221;.

Fresh from her victory in the organisational polls, Sonia Gandhi, as the elected party president and leader of Opposition, is under considerable pressure to lead from the front and motivate her MPs to participate actively in the House proceedings. The party8217;s past performance in Parliament has been pretty lacklustre, with many MPs preferring to either stay away or showing little enthusiasm to take on the Government with a gusto which should generally be associated with the country8217;s largest Opposition party.

In fact, at the Congress Parliamentary Party CPP meeting when the last session concluded, Sonia had herself noted this with some disappointment and had exhorted her MPs to take more interest in Parliament proceedings.

While party circles attribute some of the 8220;sluggishness8221; of its MPs to the dilemma within the party on what stand to take on the ongoing economic reforms, the fact is that Sonia, as Leader of the Opposition, has been seen as 8220;handicapped8221; to some extent in clearly spelling out the party8217;s stand on crucial issues.

In fact, she has preferred to let her senior colleagues raise and debate key issues, sending an adverse signal that she is at odds with doing this herself. Perhaps sensing the need to dispel this notion, she is likely to herself move the adjournment motion on the plight of farmers in the Lok Sabha tomorrow.

Last week, she also shot off a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi, asking him to set up a standing committee on disinvestment, now that it is separate ministry. She dispatched another letter to Prime Minister Vajpayee, urging him to summon a meeting of Opposition leaders to brief them on the Government8217;s policy on West Asia and Palestine in particular.

The priority accorded to farmer-related issues over others, such as disinvestment and saffronisation of education, suggests that the party is keen to re-establish itself as the votary of the weaker sections even it means taking on the Government on some of the policies it itself put into place when it was in power during Narasimha Rao8217;s regime.

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In fact, party circles say that the party stand to highlight farmers8217; issues and oppose disinvestment has to some extent made redundant its introspection committee on economic policy. The committee, chaired by senior leader Pranab Mukherjee, had been specifically set up to clear the party8217;s stand on key economic issues but is still to submit its report.

The Congress8217; focus on weaker sections, also evident in the recent conclave of party Chief Ministers, is being viewed a 8220;victory8221; of those who had held that its pathetic electoral performance in the last Lok Sabha elections was the fallout of the party shedding its pro-poor image.

This also means that the votaries of liberalisation such as former Finance minister Manmohan Singh and AICC economic cell incharge Jairam Ramesh may have to take a backseat as the party goes about trying to create a image which is distinct from the BJP as far as economic policies go.