03-16-2007, 04:17 PM
<b>For Congress, gloomy days are here again</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) Less than three years after it remarkably came back to power in India to head a hurriedly-cobbled coalition, the Congress party is not smiling any more.
While the resounding electoral defeats in Punjab and Uttarakhand are the latest and most visible evidence of the reversal of fortunes for the 122-year-old party, the malaise seems to run deep.
This week's shocking scuffles in the Lok Sabha between MPs of its two major allies, DMK and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), over the location of a maritime university have added to the Congress' worries.
Worse, party president Sonia Gandhi is finding her authority being challenged by some disgruntled colleagues.
The Janata Dal-Secular and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh respectively have ceased to be allies of the Congress. The Congress ended up losing control of Karnataka.
Relations with the People's Democratic Party have soured in Jammu and Kashmir. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is also miffed with the Congress. The Samajwadi Party, which rules Uttar Pradesh, has turned into a bitter foe.
It was the support of all these parties that had helped the Congress win a respectable 145 Lok Sabha seats in 2004 and put together the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) with Left backing.
Political analyst G.V.L. Narasimha Rao said the Congress was indeed in a bad shape.
'Their governance has taken a huge hit. There is a sort of paralysis. Suddenly, not just the Congress president, even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appears to be under siege,' Rao told IANS.
'Unfortunately, a series of elections until the end of next year is likely to bring more bad news to the Congress. Already there is talk of realignment of forces in New Delhi.'
The Left has not stopped squabbling with the Congress. Admitting that the DMK-Left tiff had dented the government's image, a central minister said on condition of anonymity: 'We don't know how long we are going to last.'
Sonia Gandhi's problems may have only just begun.
After disgraced former external affairs minister K. Natwar Singh shockingly raked up her 'foreign origin', suspended Congress MP Kuldeep Bishnoi has hit out at her, charging her with arrogance and more.
And in Meghalaya, outgoing chief minister J.D. Rymbai created a stir when he refused to resign despite Gandhi's order, though eventually he did give in.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja, who often interacts with Gandhi, admitted that the Congress was facing a credibility crisis.
'Sonia Gandhi is a good listener, she shares some of our concerns. How far she is able to influence the government's policies, that is a different matter.
'Unless the Congress goes in for some mid-course corrections, it is going to be tough,' Raja warned. 'But the party fails to see its problems. There is a lot of self-deception.'
All this is already taking a toll. The Congress refusal to tie up with the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra's municipal elections ended in its rout at the hands of the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Even in Delhi, where the Congress is in power, its prestige has taken a heavy blow.
Few are giving it a chance in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh - three states that will see elections in the coming months.
According to party insiders, rising prices of essential commodities have dented Congress popularity. Continuing distress in the farm sector and policies perceived to be pro-rich are said to be alienating the common man.
The Congress' worst nightmare will come true if a resurgent BJP, having come to power in Uttarakhand besides Punjab, emerges as the single largest party in a splintered Uttar Pradesh verdict.
If that happens, Rao warned, UPA allies might start putting pressure on the Congress to cede more ground in the central government.
As an MP from Tamil Nadu said: 'The Congress is needlessly haughty. It behaves as if it rules India on its own. Even the BJP, with 180 seats in the last Lok Sabha, was more accommodating towards allies.'
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) Less than three years after it remarkably came back to power in India to head a hurriedly-cobbled coalition, the Congress party is not smiling any more.
While the resounding electoral defeats in Punjab and Uttarakhand are the latest and most visible evidence of the reversal of fortunes for the 122-year-old party, the malaise seems to run deep.
This week's shocking scuffles in the Lok Sabha between MPs of its two major allies, DMK and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), over the location of a maritime university have added to the Congress' worries.
Worse, party president Sonia Gandhi is finding her authority being challenged by some disgruntled colleagues.
The Janata Dal-Secular and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh respectively have ceased to be allies of the Congress. The Congress ended up losing control of Karnataka.
Relations with the People's Democratic Party have soured in Jammu and Kashmir. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is also miffed with the Congress. The Samajwadi Party, which rules Uttar Pradesh, has turned into a bitter foe.
It was the support of all these parties that had helped the Congress win a respectable 145 Lok Sabha seats in 2004 and put together the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) with Left backing.
Political analyst G.V.L. Narasimha Rao said the Congress was indeed in a bad shape.
'Their governance has taken a huge hit. There is a sort of paralysis. Suddenly, not just the Congress president, even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appears to be under siege,' Rao told IANS.
'Unfortunately, a series of elections until the end of next year is likely to bring more bad news to the Congress. Already there is talk of realignment of forces in New Delhi.'
The Left has not stopped squabbling with the Congress. Admitting that the DMK-Left tiff had dented the government's image, a central minister said on condition of anonymity: 'We don't know how long we are going to last.'
Sonia Gandhi's problems may have only just begun.
After disgraced former external affairs minister K. Natwar Singh shockingly raked up her 'foreign origin', suspended Congress MP Kuldeep Bishnoi has hit out at her, charging her with arrogance and more.
And in Meghalaya, outgoing chief minister J.D. Rymbai created a stir when he refused to resign despite Gandhi's order, though eventually he did give in.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja, who often interacts with Gandhi, admitted that the Congress was facing a credibility crisis.
'Sonia Gandhi is a good listener, she shares some of our concerns. How far she is able to influence the government's policies, that is a different matter.
'Unless the Congress goes in for some mid-course corrections, it is going to be tough,' Raja warned. 'But the party fails to see its problems. There is a lot of self-deception.'
All this is already taking a toll. The Congress refusal to tie up with the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra's municipal elections ended in its rout at the hands of the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Even in Delhi, where the Congress is in power, its prestige has taken a heavy blow.
Few are giving it a chance in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh - three states that will see elections in the coming months.
According to party insiders, rising prices of essential commodities have dented Congress popularity. Continuing distress in the farm sector and policies perceived to be pro-rich are said to be alienating the common man.
The Congress' worst nightmare will come true if a resurgent BJP, having come to power in Uttarakhand besides Punjab, emerges as the single largest party in a splintered Uttar Pradesh verdict.
If that happens, Rao warned, UPA allies might start putting pressure on the Congress to cede more ground in the central government.
As an MP from Tamil Nadu said: 'The Congress is needlessly haughty. It behaves as if it rules India on its own. Even the BJP, with 180 seats in the last Lok Sabha, was more accommodating towards allies.'
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