Monday, May 11, 2009
Congress must stoop to conquer - By Ghulam Muhammed
Monday, May 11, 2009
Congress must stoop to conquer
It was sheer arrogance of power that forced Congress to treat all its coalition partners, with deplorable insensitivity, if not with outright disdain. In these times of coalition politics, the Grand Old Party was reluctant to learn new tricks of trade. By going it alone, it played a ‘take it or leave it’ game with its coalition partners that has eventually hurt it as much as its partners. In the bargain, it lost people’s trust. That is the biggest loss that Congress cannot recoup in a hurry.
Now that NDA has come out with the Ludhiana show of force, even before the last round of election is still due and there are only vague indications of numbers, Congress has to sort out its priorities.
Will Congress fight for its own interest or for the interest of the nation at large? If Congress did believe in secular and pluralist polity of the nation, it should be prepared to eat humble pie and should stoop to conquer the bigger victory for the nation. If its priority is limited to ‘party first’, nation last, it may face grim choices and survive to rue the day.
Time is of the essence. It should not be wasted on fruitless negotiations. Meet first, sort out later.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
Labels: Indian National Congress
