Deep Freeze The Asian Age India | Seema Mustafa Does the Congress leadership have a death wish? Why is it that the top brass of the party does not leave well alone? Is there a deep sense of insecurity that comes in the way of allowing party members to function as free, intelligent individuals with vast experience on their side?
Why is there such a deep prejudice against regional parties and regional leaders, including those from the Congress party, who are treated shabbily and with marked disrespect? These questions surface every few weeks but are rarely answered, as the Congress leadership shifts from making one crisis to another. Jharkhand, Bihar, Goa and suddenly Congress president Sonia Gandhi was whisked away from centre stage of events by the loyal coterie to the outhouse, disclaiming all interest in the politics of vulgar power that had shocked the nation and left a bad taste in the democratic mouth. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was brought in for damage control, and while he was unable to repair the fabric of trust and confidence torn apart by unbridled ambition, he did manage to avert the immediate crisis. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, we are told, is in charge of the party. When the decisions go awry, we are told, that the fault lies in either the system or in her advisors. At the same time, we are told, that she is the last word in the party and no one can defy her will. Even the Prime Minister refers party leaders to her for crucial decisions. So if one is prepared to accept the Congress party's insistence that she is the one and only leader, it stands to reason that she must be held accountable for right and wrong decisions taken by the Congress party. There is then no point in blaming Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni and Janardhan Dwivedi for leading the attack on Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit. Given the power wielded by Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and her hold on the party, she has to be given the credit, or otherwise, for the recent efforts by the AICC to destabilise its own government in Delhi. So until Ahmed Patel tells us otherwise, Mrs Sonia Gandhi decided to tame the chief minister whose popularity is clearly a cause of concern. Her detractors were told to mount an orchestrated campaign, to insult and virtually abuse the chief minister at a meeting, and then to use her emotional reaction of walking out as yet another weapon to beat her with. She was told in clear terms that she could survive only if she met Mrs Sonia Gandhi to explain her position. And when she tried to do so, she was further told, that Madam will entertain you only if you come through the proper channels, that is via the general secretary in charge of Delhi, Ashok Gehlot. There was a time when even a Congress member would have had the courage to resign over such treatment. But that time belonged clearly to the prehistoric age. Ms Sheila Dikshit went through the proper channels and emerged from 10, Janpath suitably chastened. Remember you are answerable to the party and become more accessible, she was told. And remember who is your boss. Interesting advice, considering the fact that Mrs Sonia Gandhi herself does not meet her party workers, is totally inaccessible not just to them but to her chief ministers and her PCC presidents as well. Mrs Dikshit had to wait for an audience, as had Maharashtra chief minister who was kept cooling his heels in Delhi for three days before the party president found time to meet him. Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh suffered the same treatment when he fell foul of 10, Janpath as did veteran Kerala Congress leader K. Karunakaran as did former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh as did Uttaranchal chief minister N.D. Tiwari as did� The list is endless, for Mrs Sonia Gandhi's ultimate weapon is "The Freeze" and that unnerves even those who value their independence. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also felt the icy waves not so very long ago. The Congress party has reduced itself to a sad little party of warring individuals who are the first to admit that the party would disintegrate if there was no 10, Janpath to keep it together. Why? Because we cannot stand each other, is the proud and honest reply from all party members who acknowledge that their dislike for each other, compounded by deep insecurity, makes it imperative for them to keep the Family in power. Coteries always tend to grow and flourish around power, and in a party like the Congress, draw their strength directly from the party president. And such is this strength that these men and women do not need to contest elections for they are more powerful than Congress chief ministers and elected representatives. For instance, Mrs Sheila Dikshit has led the party to power twice in a BJP influenced state like Delhi. She has ensured six of the seven Lok Sabha seats for her party, has practised commendable secular politics, and comes through as a gracious, honest leader who has managed to keep the BJP out of power in its stronghold. But even so, she has been made to kneel before not just the Congress president but before the coterie that has now even given up the pretence of representing the people of India. Why should they go through the fa�ade of an election, when they can bask in the shadow of the most powerful person in the country? Regional parties foolish enough to join a Congress-led coalition have to pay for this. Today, the person paying the biggest price for the alliance is Rashtriya Janata Dal's Lalu Prasad Yadav who had emerged as the staunchest ally of Mrs Sonia Gandhi and her party. First, he was left out of the closed-door deal struck directly between Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shibu Soren who announced an alliance for the Jharkhand elections leaving out the RJD. Then the Congress party flirted openly with Lok Janshakti leader Ram Vilas Paswan in his efforts to tame Lalu in Bihar, with the result that the alliance of secular parties broke into fragments with a fractious campaign replacing what had promised to be a cohesive, united alliance against the NDA. President's Rule was imposed and now the Congress party, through Governor Buta Singh, is reportedly busy trying to shackle Lalu, throw the RJD into disarray, and occupy the space. The strategy lies around the belief that the Muslim vote bank of the RJD will move back to the Congress party once the RJD ceases to exist as a viable force in the state. The allies in government are suspicious of the Congress party now, and are tentatively exploring pastures that could provide a safer and more viable alternative at some point in the not so distant future. Activity is contained to a point where it does not become alarming, but all regional parties are now re-opening channels of communication with each other to work around petty egos and giant-sized ambitions. Sharing a stint in power with the Congress party has disillusioned even those Left leaders who till a few months ago were prepared to draw their knives at any mention of a third front. Now both the CPI and the CPI(M) have officially declared that they will work for a third front, and while they would not like to bring down the government, it could bring itself down under the weight of its own growing contradictions. Differences between Central ministers are well known, arising again from personal and not ideological differences. Prime Minister Singh has suffered the worst opposition from within his own ministers in the Cabinet who are reluctant to be held accountable for policy by a person who they see as their junior in the Congress party. Some ministers refused initially to send files to him, others refused to brief him regularly, and agreed only when they were specifically directed to do so by Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Needless to say, she issued the instructions only when she was positive that Dr Manmohan Singh had not forgotten that she had placed him in the Prime Minister's chair and was not in any way questioning her undisputed authority. That he has grown in the chair and acquired a more than sizeable fan following of his own, make the coterie uneasy, but he has for the moment convinced the party that he is simply keeping the chair warm for whenever Madam might require it. The wheels of power are delicately balanced for the Congress party. A wrong groove, a weak bolt, a sudden turn can trigger off a vicious cycle of suspicion, insecurity, anger with disastrous results. Politics and power cannot flow from abject sycophancy, and a party that has lost its nerve and the ability to think will find it impossible to govern. http://www.asianage.com/?INA=2:175:175:155080 � 2005 The Asian Age WHAT'S ON AROUND WITH THE GOANS IN THE GULF: MAY BALL 2005 Date: 12-05-05 Organized by Goan Welfare Society (GWS)-Kuwait Venue: Safir Palace Hotel, Riggea Band: Stepping Stones Highlights: Crowning of the MAY QUEEN 2005. YGC BAHRAIN MAY QUEEN BALL Date: 05-05-05 Organized by: Young Goans Club, Bahrain Venue: Palace Inn Hotel Highlights: The YGC May Queen Contest ANNUAL MAY QUEEN BALL Date: 05-05-05 Organized by Goan Welfare Associate(GWA), Qatar Venue: The Diplomatic Club. Highlights: Crowning of the May Queen. 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