Bit player,big stakes

The West Bengal negotiations between the Congress and the Trinamool Congress have come to a close after much tension and jostling. The Tamil Nadu tug-of-war,of course,was even more charged,revealing the still unsettled nature of the Congresss state-level alliances and the partys internal tension over whether to go it alone in its erstwhile bastions instead of playing second fiddle to regional partners. It might appear as if the Congress has been shown its puny place in these states,going by the number of seats allocated. (It is contesting 65 of 294 seats in West Bengal,and 63 of 234 in Tamil Nadu.) These are big,potentially game-changing elections and in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal,old certainties may well be upended.

Far from being marginalised,the Congress,as the largest party in the UPA,is still bang at the centre of these elections. If it ceases to regard itself as being in competition with its regional allies,the picture looks rather different. There is no single,unifying story to be played out in these five electoral arenas but it is clear that the UPA is likely to be buoyed by the overall results. With the past few months having given the impression of the government at the Centre being in disarray,these elections could provide the Congress a chance to retrieve political coherence. A high-stakes electoral campaign of necessity forces parties to articulate their politics,something the Congress has been mystifyingly shy of doing of late,thereby reinforcing the impression of drift. Indeed,with the Left expected to fade out electorally,at least temporarily,and political forces consequently clustering around one or the other big pole,the Congress and the BJP should see reason to craft more nuanced platforms.

How fast the Congress cottons on to this opportunity could have implications for governance at the Centre. Instead of treating its alliances as a patchwork of necessities,the party needs to articulate a strong vision. Right now,the UPA lacks even the most rudimentary mechanisms for coordination most issues are left for leaders to settle among each other. If the Congress hopes to be a binding agent for smaller players,it first needs to outline a cogent politics,and demonstrate how its policy interests mesh with those of its allies and how inventive it can be in reaching out to the opposition to pass important legislation. This could turn out to be a productive juncture for national politics.