The Sheila parable

In tracking Sheila Dikshit’s six-day war — from the counting of votes on December 4 to her formal anointment as Delhi’s chief minister on December 10 — the Congress will locate more than the narrative of just another state unit. One of the prime rules of political management is to amplify victory and underplay defeat.

In Delhi the Congress party has done everything possible to diminish its win. The high command sequestered in and around 10 Janpath and local dissidents appear to have conspired to repackage the triumph. Survey the spin. A week ago, it was the story of an incumbent chief minister being voted back to power. For the Congress it was an opportunity to drown the doom-laden despatches from the three lost states with a full-throated victory anthem. Instead, there was bickering. The “high command” presided over a no-holds-barred bargaining session by Dikshit’s detractors among newly elected MLAs. Chief ministership was always going to be hers; but now, the CM-designate framed by the garlands seems suitably chastened, disowning all credit for the triumph and humbly thanking the Congress president for this return to high office.

In this week-long drama a range of apprehensions about the Congress could be confirmed. In kinder assessments, it hints at a party unable to handle its flock and master image management skills. In crueler readings it points to an isolated Congress leadership uneasy with victorious colleagues. In between lies a realistic explanation of the Congress’s current crisis.