First among equals?

A party plenary is essentially theatre, a self-fashioning exercise pre-disposed to grandstanding. At the Congresss 83rd plenary in Burari,the mood was decidedly combative. Reflecting the political storms buffeting the Congress-led UPA government,the rhetoric was a mix of sharp attack on the opposition and an iteration of administrative ideals. Rallying the delegates and the organisation to electoral challenges,the party also pledged itself to delivering all thats good and desirable,from defeating corruption,to equitable development,to responsible exercise of discretionary powers,to safeguarding the republics secular character. As a signal of intent,this is unexceptionable. Delivery on this sort of to-do list is,equally,very difficult to appraise on the morrow.

Or is it? As she took on a confrontational opposition,Congress President Sonia Gandhi was strident in affirming the partys endorsement of its prime minister. The party stands solidly with him, she said,calling the BJPs attacks on Manmohan Singh downright despicable. These are strong words. And in a party as used to decoding the high command as the Congress is,they are presumably not casually uttered. In harnessing the personality of its prime minister in order to make a political point,the Congress has whether by compulsion or design highlighted its peculiar relationship with the government it leads at the Centre. The Congress retains,with the concurrence of its allies,the right to install the prime minister of its choosing. But just as he is made accountable to his party,so the party is accountable for his record.

In this parliamentary system we have chosen for ourselves,a ruling party cannot evade the consequences of lecturing its government from a distance. The organic character of the Westminster system makes party and MPs responsible to the people for their government. Yet,sections of the Congress evidently think they can sidestep the government in their political calculus,avoiding the governments baggage while owning its accomplishments. By doing so,they also weaken the government and the prime minister. A low-grade inertia is visible. For instance,when the prime minister speaks of a cabinet reshuffle and nothing happens even three months later,doubts develop about the initiative allowed to him. It wont therefore take more than a few days for the Congress to be tested on its presidents Burari standard.