Bumbling by Congress

Jonathan Swift says, "Satire is a sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own, which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world.” That should, perhaps, sum up the Congress party's act, rather, its inaction, in Goa and Manipur, soon after the Assembly results on Saturday last. There is no justification, otherwise, of its satirical...nay comical silence in the face of a surmountable challenge.

The Congress has to blame itself for its failure to form a possible government in these two states despite becoming the single largest party. Its leadership also should remember that it neither made any noise nor any moves that would ensnare its rival and thus create a congenial atmosphere for it to negotiate with the independents and smaller parties, which it would have done in the normal course.

The reason was obvious that it did not do so. It was struck a mortal blow by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the elections. So dazed it was with the blow that it could not even comprehend what was happening all around it. It suddenly woke up and began running around with a water pistol charged with vitriol.

For record sake, the Congress does not have the majority, going by the vote share in both the states. In Goa, Congress bagged only 28.4 per cent of the vote share compared to the 32.5 per cent of its rival, i.e., 2,59,758 against the 2,97,588 bagged by the Bharatiya Janata Party. In Manipur, where the latter managed only 21 seats against the Congress' 28, the former secured 36.3 per cent of the votes against 35.1 per cent of the latter.

Still democracy means the invite to form the government should have gone to the single largest party first. This is where the Congress fumbled. Either it was not adequately equipped to force itself into action because of its attitude or was handicapped because of non-direction from its high command, which seems to be the case.

Even as the results were flooding in, Amit Shah did not waste any time in announcing that his party would form the governments in all the four states including Manipur and Goa. His deputies landed in the state capitals and burnt much midnight oil to recoup numbers and once they did, there was no stopping the party.

The misanthropic Congress leadership was groping around in the dark only to blame the Governors first, the Centre next and now its own leaders. The Bharatiya Janata Party was the proverbial early bird. The case of the Congress could best be described thus: In every chain of reasoning, the evidence of the last conclusion can be no greater than that of the weakest link of the chain, whatever may be the strength of the rest. Congress leadership gifted the two governments on a platter to its rival, the latter did not steal it.