Congress endgame

Plenary weakens prospects of a united front

The recently concluded 85th Congress Party plenary at Raipur flattered to deceive by signalling that Rahul Gandhi would be the face of the party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. This apart, the party resolved to adopt an electoral platform that would focus on the minimum income guarantee programme (NYAY) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged proximity to industrialist Gautam Adani, whose stock-market dealings were questioned recently by activist investor group Hindenburg. Considering that Mr Gandhi led the Congress to its worst showing in two successive Lok Sabha elections, in one of which NYAY and Mr Modi’s alleged wrongdoing in