2009 Poll Prospects And Alignments

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<b>Congress: No tie-ups </b>


New Delhi, June 17: A churning has begun in the Congress Party on two major issues — pre-poll alliances and leadership — even before submission of the Antony Committee report and holding of a chintan shivir in July. In fact, the party is in a dilemma over whether to come to power through alliances or on its own after a series of electoral reverses in about a dozen state Assemblies despite completing almost a full term at the Centre.

There is also a growing realisation among the senior leaders that the coalitions, whether at the Centre or in states, do not suit the Congress which has an all-India presence. This will ultimately shrink the party’s base in the long run, they felt. “We have to decide whether pre-poll alliances are in the inte-rest of the party. This have, in fact, strengthened regional parties which are trying to check our growth.
<b>They have no ideological conviction and can go with any party, including the BJP,” a Congress Working Committee member pointed out. </b> <!--emo&:omg--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/omg.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='omg.gif' /><!--endemo-->

On the other hand, a Union minister from the party, who is part of the party’s strategy committee, said, “We shou-ld sit in the Opposition for the next five years and rebuild the organisation. <b>We have a leader like Mr Rahul Gandhi who has age on his side.</b> Coalitions are okay for parties like the BJP which lacks an all-India presence. The Congress came to pow-er at the Centre after eight years in May 2004 through a coalition but that did not help the party to revive in the states where it has been weak.

But it lost the ruling states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Top leaders in the party have been busy in running the coalition and thus igno-red the organisation. They could not identify regional leaders with a mass following like Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi did. <b>Instead, the sons of established leaders, their personal assistants and rootless leaders got promoted in the organisation and government</b>.” <!--emo&:roll--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /><!--endemo--> “Orissa PCC president Jayadev Jena is not seen as an alternate to chief minister Naveen Patnaik. We should not promote ‘tired’ regional satraps who blackmail the high command,” a senior leader said.