The old mantras

BS OPINION

For proof, listen to the strange sounds that have emanated from the Congress party at Shimla. Sonia Gandhi, Congress president and prime ministerial hopeful, has given short shrift to economic reform.

No disinvestments when it comes to profitable companies (like Maruti Udyog!), no privatisation, differential interest rates for the poor (in other words, back to 1969), and, worst of all, job reservations in the private sector "" these are some of the resolutions that the Congress has made at Shimla.

Such decisions could not have been arrived at by anything even remotely resembling a brains trust. Instead, it can only be the work of politicians who cut their teeth during the high noon of populism in the 1970s and 1980s. But is the electorate, already taken for a ride by such populist posturing, going to be deceived again?

One cannot help wondering at the quality of advice tendered to Ms Gandhi. Or perhaps the problem lies in the advice that she is willing to listen to "" raising questions about her ability to think through such matters.

The unavoidable inference is that, in the absence of any other lodestone to be guided by, she has decided that the only thing that will work a political miracle for her is the ruinous economics of her mother-in-law.

This is a great pity for a country that hopes to accelerate its rate of growth and thereby abolish poverty. It is a pity for the Congress too, because large numbers of voters might be willing to consider an alternative to BJP and may well like to vote for the Congress, if only it would come up with something new and sensible. That opportunity it has missed.

The tactical move that it has adopted is better than the over-all positioning strategy, but nevertheless also flawed. The party is right in getting off its high horse, which it had mounted at Pachmarhi six years ago, that it will not be a partner in any coalition.

But it has reduced the political impact of this by allowing Ms Gandhi to simultaneously claim, as a matter of right almost, the prime ministership. Those willing to enter into electoral alliance with the Congress will wonder about the baggage of Ms Gandhi's foreign origins.

Coupled with the BJP's more powerful appeal to religious sentiment, some of them will wonder if allying with the Congress carries with it one problem too many.

Elections in India are as much about punishing the incumbent as about giving vent to all manner of other emotional frustrations, such as perceived and real inequalities in social and religious status. All in all, therefore, it is hard not to conclude that the Congress has missed an opportunity when it seems to beckon.