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News Analysis: Message From CWC Meeting
Cong stands firm with PM
KV Prasad
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 5
It was essentially meant to be an exercise to authorise party president Sonia Gandhi to nominate the candidate for the presidential and vice-presidential elections, but the Congress chose to utilise the opportunity to hear the voices within over issues that have been troubling the party rank and file since the recent electoral setbacks.

With elections to the office of the President of India due next month and that of the Vice- President later, the authorisation is a normal practice as it allows the party president flexibility to work with allies and other political formations before finalising the candidates.

Yes, it did not require a strong reminder by leaders at the extended Congress Working Committee meeting to underscore that the party is facing twin challenges — price rise and corruption — that need to be tackled effectively.

The central message emerging from the daylong deliberation was what Congress president Sonia Gandhi showed -- the party stands firm with the government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

This was essential since for the last few years the UPA-II has been under severe attack, starting with the surfacing of reports on the 2G Spectrum allocation issue and the Commonwealth Games mess that got accentuated with the campaign mounted by anti-corruption crusaders.

On his part, the Prime Minister told the assembly that while the government has undertaken a series of administrative and legal measures to check the menace of graft in public life, on the political front it was essential to counter the “misinformation being spread by disparate, desperate elements, unified” only by their opposition to the Congress-led government.

The other issue of price rise has been a perennial problem for the government. First, it was inflation and the spiralling rise in prices of essential commodities. Literally adding fuel was the recent decision to hike the price of petrol, a move that saw some allies speak up against it.

The suggestion by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda that senior and experienced leaders should return to work for the organisation reminded the assembly of the “Kamaraj Plan” of the 1960s to strengthen the party.

The offer comes at a time when Sonia is expected to effect changes in the organisation and prepare the part for the General Elections that are due by the Summer of 2014.

In the run-up to the Parliamentary election, the Congress can test waters starting this autumn with Assembly polls in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, followed by Gujarat — the BJP citadel — and the states of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh next year. The Congress will need a roadmap not just to overcome the current challenges, but also to turn around the perception of being a party in a state of drift.

twin challenges

• Price rise: This has been a perennial problem for the government. First, it was inflation and the spiralling rise in prices of essential commodities. Literally adding fuel was the recent decision to hike the price of petrol, a move that saw some allies speak up against it
• Corruption: From reports on irregularities in 2G Spectrum allocation to the Commonwealth Games mess, UPA-II has been under severe attack on this front