***What the Congress needs is to revitalise the organisation, with Sonia taking a realistic view of the situation by developing closer links with the “third front” parties, and jettisoning the impression of “dynastic rule” as far as possible. ***

INDIRA Gandhi imposed the controversial state of emergency in India 25 years ago.

The national elections, that followed them, saw the political organisation which spearheaded the independence movement of India in tatters. The Indian National Congress lost power for the first time in 1977 in the independent India. And the party's driving force. Indira Gandhi, who was riding the crest of tremendous popularity in the aftermath of Bangladesh's independence war and who had established herself as an astute leader in the world, suffered Ignominious setback in the polls. She lost the Rai Bareily seat in Uttar Pradesh to Janata Party's Raj Narain while her younger son Sanjay lost the’ nearby Amethi constituency to a relatively obscure politician.

The Janata Party — a conglomeration of different organisations came together by sheer desperation to dislodge the Congress from power — formed the first non-Congress government with Morarji Desai as the prime minister and Atal Behari Vajpayee .as exi-erdai affairs minister While the- former came from the “Old Guards" of the Congress, the latter came from the “Janasangh". They all merged with the Janata party.

But Indira Gandhi and the Congress did not take much time to strike back. The Janata Party government collapsed in January 1980 election and the Congress came back to power with more than two-thirds majority. Indira Gandhi was assassinated before she could complete her term. Sanjay had already died in a plane crash, and it was left to Rajiv to step into the shoes of her mother in continuing the dynastic trend in the Congress politics. Rajiv too was killed In 1991. His death robbed the new Congress government of his leadership but the party remained In power till it was defeated in the elections in 1995 with P.V. Narasimha Rao's leadership.

The Congress has been devoid of charismatic leadership since then. The partymen persuaded Rajiv's wife — Italian-born Sonia Gandhi — to enter the political scene. The Congress heavily relies on Nehru family linkage in the politics. Motilal Nehru. Jawaharlal Nehru. Indira Gandhi, and her two sons Sanjay and Rajiv — all played their innings in the Indian politics. The only option to maintain the trend was Sonia since Rajivs daughter Priyanka and son Rahul were still not mature enough to wear (he mantle. Sonia was hesitant but later threw her hat into the ring and is now the president of Congress party and also the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha. The questions that revolve around politics of India, and the Congress and Sonia Gandhi in particular, are; does the Congress stand a chance to return to power and how is Sonia Gandhi conducting the party? Has Sonia succeeded in fending the disadvantages that stem from her being a foreigner? What is the state of the Congress now vis-a-vis the ruling NDA and the other parties like the CPM. CPI. Sama-jwadi Party and others? And finally, what do the Indians and also the Congressmen feel about Sonia Gandhi's qualities and her chances of taking the organisation to political ascendancy? Will it come to power again?

Most Congressmen seem to be smarting under a kind of frustration about the party's possibility of regaining power. The first salvo was fired recently by senior party leader and a former general secretary V.N. Gadgil. who is sceptical about the effectiveness of Sonia s leadership and current capability of the Congress to make a serious dent in the Indian politics to the extent of emerging as the only viable alternative to NDA. Without showing any disrespect to the last of the leaders of Nehru dynasty and without diminishing her sincerity for the sake of the party and the country, he feels that Congress has an uphill task, Some others have echoed the same, and one went to the extent of saying that he finds little chance for the organisation to return to power in 50 years with current state of leadership. Obviously, all these indicate that many things are not fine in the party which is in the grip of some kind of despondency.

Sonia Gandhi came in the scene when the Congress leadership was in doldrums following the election debacle that led to Narasimha Rao's resignation from the top position which, however, was occupied by lacklustre Sitaram Kesri. Sonia took over just before the national polls but could not pro-vlde the organisation the much-needed "magic touch although Congressmen as a whole were rejuvenated since they become emotional with Nehru dynasty. However. Sonia is not exactly Irom the dynasty, she is a member of the family bv virtue of marriage Party stalwarts like bharad Pawar, fauq An-war and A. P Sagma have quit protesting that a foreigner's gaining the domination." In the elections that followed after the collapse of the earlier NDA government. Sonia contested in it and came out victorious, but the

party secured only 1 16 seats. It was the lowest ever number of seats the Congress bagged since 1947.

Before the polls last year. Sonia came close to becoming prime minister and taking the party to power because the NDA government had lost the confidence motion by only one vote. She told the ceremonial president of the country that she was supposed to enjoy the support of 272 members in the 543-mem-ber Lok Sabha needed to form a government but eventually she tailed to muster support of that "magic number". It was her failure to reach understanding with the secular forces like the Samajwadi Party in the UP and the leftists in the West Bengal and the result was midterm polls. Had she succeeded in rallying the support of all secular forces which was not too difficult at that stage, the Congress with the support of others would have come to power and possibly remained at the helm today. But it did not occur mainly because Sonia could not play her cards adroitly and she could not finally make it. This raised serious doubts about her leadership skills and ability to hold over the MPs of different parties many of whom are capricious but were ivllling to support her at one stage.

Evidently. Sonia, being not an original Indian. has several inherent problems like the language which she is desperately trying to learn. The Congress has been reduced to a precarious position in some states including the West Bengal where it is not even the second largest force and the situation is disappointing for its supporters. Besides. there seem to be distinct coteries within the organisa-tidn and the high command seldom works in unison and there is also the tendency to mislead the party chief. Senior leaders Arjun Singh, Pranab Mukherjee. Madhav Rao Sind-hia. Golam Nabi Azad and others have inter rivalries which also existed before but Indira or Rajiv could handle it well. For Sonia, a newcomer in the politics. it is difficult to know and tackle the nitty-gritty of the political pattern in India. The net result is what is reflected in the remarks of Mr. Gadgil and some other leaders. But Sonias vic-tory with a big margin from the Amethi constituency and also the comfortable win from another seat in the south confirmed her acceptance by Indian |x*ople as a politician. However, whether they are keen to see her as prime minister remains a moot point and only time can say if she has earned this confidence of Indian people.

The Congress is passing through a tough time when it has to confront the challenges in several fronts. Sonia Gandhi has to fight a charismatic leader like Atal Beharl Vajpayee on one hand and manage own party affairs on the other. Even in secular camps, she has adversaries both among the centerists and leftists, who. however, have shown a great degree of understanding about her. True, the CPM. the main communist party and its leader West BengaJ chief minister Jy-oti Basu have come closer to the Congress but Sonia in a way failed to earn their confidence when she was lukewarm to concede the likely premiership to the leftist leader after her own efforts had run into rough weather.

The Indian national Congress is in the midst of a Critical time as the Congressmen themselves are worried about their political future. But the traditionally vast party cannot be washed off and it definitely can feel to stage a comeback to power although no chance exists at the moment for fresh polls and the NDA looks largely set for full term despite occasional bickering among the constituents. What the Congress needs is to revitalise the organisation. Sonia taking a realistic view of the situation by developing closer links with the "third front" parties, and jettison the impression of "dynastic rule" as far as possible.