Yesterday once more

Perhaps it was inevitable. After the disbelieving hush that descended on the Congress's 24 Akbar Road headquarters as Lok Sabha results b...

Perhaps it was inevitable. After the disbelieving hush that descended on the Congress8217;s 24 Akbar Road headquarters as Lok Sabha results began pouring in, perhaps it was only in keeping with the party8217;s deeply treasured traditions that the first sign of determined action was a resignation. And in a curious replay of the drama following the Sangma-Pawar-Anwar bombshell, the mere sight of Pranab Mukherjee indulging in so noble an act has proved to be so highly contagious that everyone8217;s already lost count of the Congress men and women seeking to relinquish their high offices. Sham or atonement? If this is the result of introspection and frank assessment, it would only bode well for the Grand Old Party. If, however, this is yet another damage control exercise by Sonia Gandhi8217;s coterie to thwart any challenge to her leadership, it would merely mark a return to yesterday.

Since the party has already embarked on an exercise in eliciting statements of moral responsibility, surely it must first determine the limitsof accountability. If Mukherjee is to be held liable for the Bansi Lal fiasco that ensured a clean sweep for the BJP-INLD alliance in Haryana, if Ambika Soni8217;s immediate response to a call for introspection is a resignation letter, where will this domino effect end? What about the lady at 10 Janpath? With what gesture will she match her partymen8217;s swirling declarations of contrition? If Sushil Kumar Shinde and Oscar Fernandes have quit as general secretaries to facilitate the reconstitution of the AICC, then who will determine the contours of a new-look Congress? After all, accountability is not a zero-sum game. Unfortunately, in the current tussle between those within Sonia8217;s coterie and those without, it seems that the gravity of the party8217;s worst ever showing at the hustings has not quite sunk in. They appear to have been bestirred into action less to lay the foundations of intra-party democracy, more to ensure their own survival or make a bid for ascendance, as the case may be.

The electorate has voicedits disenchantment with both the leadership and the programme offered by the Congress. It is instructive that in states which had simultaneous state elections, its assembly candidates netted a higher vote share than their parliamentary counterparts. And while the party has registered a measure of success in wooing back some of the minority votes 8212; especially in Uttar Pradesh 8212; that made it so formidable an electoral entity in decades gone by, it offered no vision of what it sought to offer the people of India or of what sort of a government it hoped to install in New Delhi. Instead, it banked solely on the charisma and magnetism of dynasty. Yes, the Congress must introspect. On where the causes of the debacle lie. On the self-defeating mix of sycophancy and a family-centric campaign. On the imperative to move beyond personality cults and resuscitate a moribund organisational network. For, the Orissa and Bihar assembly elections beckon just a few months hence. For, determined action as the main oppositionparty demands a high degree of direction.