The writer taught political science at Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, and is chief editor of 'Studies in Indian Politics'.
Ringing in the old
Sonia Gandhi as interim Congress chief represents desperation at best and abdication of politics at worst.
What does a party do when it faces an existential crisis? It certainly does not wait two-and-a-half months to resolve the leadership issue. Having waited that long, it would rarely latch on to an interim arrangement. And above all, it won’t allow the interim solution to look like a problem in itself. But this is precisely what the Congress has done. Therefore, its latest attempt to run away from the real problem deserves an interim assessment. Interim, because we do not know if the party is going to rejuvenate, ideologically deteriorate in pursuit of power, or simply hang around. Clearly, it is difficult to dissolve it — indeed it was difficult enough in 1947 itself, but much more so today. And as this writer has argued just before the second resounding defeat of the party (‘Dear Yogendra, I disagree’, IE, May 22), more than any other time, democratic politics requires a middle-of-road democratic platform. But then, one surely does not want a party that will trudge along aimlessly and become a transit platform for various elements awaiting rehabilitation within the current ruling dispensation.
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