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 Warning
bells for UPA
The UPA can ignore the results of the Karnataka Assembly at
its own peril. There would be temptation to analyse the
distribution and fragmentation of vote and conclude that the
defeat was not really a defeat but an arithmetical aberration.
If it does so then it would be inflicting a deep wound on
itself for it is this very fragmentation that has helped
Congress to rule for such a long time and gave hope to the
opposition of someday breaking its vote bank. Today this has
happened and it is now for the Congress to rebuild the
coalition of interests of various groups and combinations. The
danger, as we have been repeatedly warning, is that the
Congress high command is increasingly allowing the rootless
vested interest to influence the decision making in the party.
These elements have systematically marginalized popular
leaders and replaced them with those who are as subservient to
them as the President of the party. But the High command need
only read the Karnataka results with those from Haryana. The
Congress Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is one of the
very few Congress leaders who can win elections on his own.
Fortunately, during the last three years instead of weakening
him the party has lent support to him. As a result the people
of that difficult state accept him as a genuine leader and
have therefore backed him fully during the bye elections. Not
much be read into the victory of Bhajan Lal though there is
lot to learn from victories from the other constituencies. It
would do well if draws a comprehensive policy on state
leadership before the next round of elections begins for
people vote as much for the central leaders as the leaders
from the states. If this is not done in time then the
consequences for the party during the Lok Sabha polls will be
serious. There is no gain saying that the next parliamentary
polls are going to be crucial for the country for a divisive
mandate is bound to put the clock back. As it is we live in a
very contentious world and do not need to add more problems to
it.
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