The Congress attempt to project itself as a pro-poor party and the unleashing of its Left-wingers, like Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi and Vyalar Ravi, in Parliament is an attempt to play the role of the main Opposition effectively and not an indicator that the party had gone back on its commitment to economic reforms.
Most of the first-generation reforms, including the opening up of the insurance sector, have been carried out with Congress support and what remains now are issues on which not only a broader political consensus would be required, but the people in general would have to cooperate.
What is being termed as the mid-course correction in Congress' economic policies, is actually striking a balance between the reforms agenda and the pace of people's acceptance of it. The party seems to be realising that in spite of its P V Narasimha Rao-led government having done a good job in pulling the economy back on the rails, the party paid a heavy price politically.
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Against this, the BJP, which had branded the Congress' reforms agenda as anti-swadeshi and pro-MNC, is reaping a rich political harvest after recording a meteoric rise in its seats in the Lok Sabha.
Nevertheless, the change in the Congress stance is not all rhetoric or a copycat act to follow the BJP's example. Senior leaders indicate that there is a serious rethinking in the party, that reforms could not and should not be pushed without taking the people along, and without creating conducive atmosphere for it. The party feels that the BJP is fast moving on the same tracks as the Congress during its 1991-96 rule, when it lost popular support quickly after the allegation of being pro-multinational and anti-swadeshi stuck against it.
It is for this reason that the Congress has taken up the lifting of quantitative restrictions from 1,500 items under `US pressure' in a big way to brand the Vajpayee government as an anti-swadeshi. The open challenge to the BJP leadership and the Vajpayee government on lifting of QRs by one of their own _ former Delhi Chief Minister Madanlal Khurana _ is set to give additional firepower to the Congress in Parliament and outside.