The Congress party’s rally in New Delhi on Sunday cannot quite be dismissed as business as usual. True, there were the usual highlights: frequent mention of the “aam aadmi”, a hearkening back to the party’s history. But the symbolic value of the occasion should not be understated. The party’s president, Sonia Gandhi, and its possible next leader, Rahul Gandhi, both spoke of their firm support for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his reform programme — even though it is no secret that many in the Congress prefer the government to go easy on fiscal restraint, reduction in subsidies and investment enhancement efforts. Such unequivocal public support from the party’s leadership for the government’s economic vision is rare.
The political implications are considerable. First, the Congress is finally showing an unwillingness to cede the narrative to either the political Opposition or the anti-corruption activists turned politicians led by Arvind Kejriwal. Ms Gandhi’s speech was fiercely combative on the question of corruption — though the public mood would perhaps have appreciated a gesture of contrition as well and the Congress leadership would have done well to indicate that it also needed to do an internal clean-up act. Perhaps what was not said is as significant as what was said. Although the sea of pink turbans in the audience revealed that many attendees had been bussed in by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was the target of many recent accusations, neither Ms Gandhi nor her son thanked or even mentioned him. Instead, Rahul Gandhi chose to compliment Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, seated on the dais, for building urban infrastructure. It appears the Congress has learned the lessons of the two previous times it acted. In September, the introduction of economic measures to contain the fiscal deficit and snapping ties with the Trinamool Congress effectively changed the subject away from corruption allegations for a while. The reshuffle of the council of ministers managed that feat, too, if for a shorter period. Sleepwalking politically, as the Congress has done for the past year, is not a winning strategy.
Second, the Congress has essentially restated the founding principle of the United Progressive Alliance: economic growth, with the proceeds funding various welfare schemes. Ms Gandhi may have pointed out the obvious, that fiscal constraints would hamper welfarist measures and that more investment was necessary. But it is nevertheless significant that she recognised and publicly stated that her pet schemes depended on economic strength.
Sadly, the speakers chose to be unspecific about the party’s future economic agenda. A robust defence of foreign direct investment is all very well, but instead of the umpteenth mention of a past loan waiver, a clear endorsement of further reform – with a clearly delineated road map for more action – would have been welcome. True, all speakers reiterated a commitment to pass the Lok Pal Bill. Land acquisition legislation was also mentioned. But the only real forward-looking section of the speeches was from Rahul Gandhi, who spent half his 15 minutes saying that the Congress intended a “path forward” to open up the power structures that prevent ordinary citizens from easily accessing government services. However, he framed this forward-looking claim as a question of political participation, when speaking of specific governance reforms could have really changed the narrative.
