Can she do it?

In the immediate perspective, the elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi that went so badly for the Congress might in fact contain the potential to set in motion a process that shows the party a way out of the cul-de-sac in which it has trapped itself.

The leadership of Sonia Gandhi has now become a topic of conversation amongst Congressmen also. Until recently, the subject was taboo. It has become clear now, perhaps even to Sonia Gandhi, that the party is rumbling as never before.

Punjab, Kerala, Uttaranchal are feeling the first tremors as party leaders there raise small but highly visible buntings of protest, ostensibly against their chief ministers but in fact against Sonia Gandhi herself.

This, it must not be forgotten, comes on top of the exit of altogether bigger chieftains like Sharad Pawar and the Shukla brothers a few years ago. What happens from here onwards will depend on the results of the next general election. The Congress has 109 seats at present.

If the number increases to even 150 or so, Ms Gandhi's leadership will be secure, whether or not the Congress forms a coalition government. Anything between 109 and 135 will lead to further questioning. Anything less than 135 could eventually result in a change of leadership.

That such a change is overdue is not in question. Even if it is conceded that Ms Gandhi has to remain as Congress president to prevent the party from disintegrating, the Congress Working Committee would surely have to make way for new faces.

It consists of persons whose time is long past. Most importantly, many of them cannot win a Lok Sabha election. Some, indeed, have never done so, and yet occupy a seat at the High Table of a party that claims to represent around a quarter of the electorate. This is not only stupid, it is also suicidal.

However, the mere induction of younger and more energetic politicians, though necessary, will not be sufficient. The party has no grassroots organisation left to speak of.

In Rajasthan, for example, there were scores of constituencies where people did not even know who the Congress candidate was.

In Madhya Pradesh, thousands who were supposed to campaign for the Congress quietly campaigned for the BJP telling voters where their money was.

In Chhattisgarh, the conversion issue in the tribal areas could not be addressed by party workers lest it annoy Ms Gandhi who wanted to focus on development.

Will Ms Gandhi be able to bring in new faces? More importantly, would she be willing to do so? Does she have it in her to be a politician, rather than just a totem around which the tribe dances and to which it pays homage?

Can she see that totems are useful only for the satraps who wield power by proxy, rather in the manner of the nobles of the Mughal empire?