The reason is obvious. Even before the winter session of parliament commenced, the Congress leaders began to send overtures to the BJP and its allies that they are willing to support many of the bills which the government wants to get endorsed by parliament. In return, the party raised the demand for the deletion of Rajiv Gandhi's name from the Bofors chargesheet. Thus it sought to make it a condition for its support to the Vajpayee government's moves to open up the insurance sector and denationalise the public sector banks, for instance. It mobilised its workers in Delhi to demonstrate outside parliament, seeking to focus attention on a demand that fails to inspire even the Congress members.

WRONG SIGNALS

But this has only sent wrong signals among the people at large, who have got the impression that the Congress is prone to sidetracking their real issues and will extend cooperation to the BJP government. By indulging in such tactics, the Congress is only presenting itself as a party which could barter away the country's interests for its own. But this thing can only add to the Congress' alienation from the masses -- a process that has not halted despite the party's utmost efforts.

It is for such reasons that many were expecting that the Congress party would seriously review its showing in these elections, its inability to recover the lost ground and its poor performance, recording its lowest ever tally. The reason is to be sought in the fact that the people identify the Congress party as one with a discredited record, as a party which continues advocating such policies as are opposed to the interests of large sections of the people.

But the Congress is indulging in such antics at a time when the policies of globalisation and liberalisation are causing havoc to the livelihood of millions of toiling people the world over, and are therefore being stoutly opposed by the masses. In India too, these policies are not going to remain unchallenged. The November 29 March to Parliament, taken out by the insurance, bank and other employees against IRDA bill and proposed privatisation of nationalised banks, and the insurance workers' total strike all over the country on December 1, are not only a warning to the BJP-led government. They are equally a pointer to the Congress party that either it has to effect pro-people changes in its economic policies or be prepared to face further erosion in its base.

It was this lack of pro-people policies on part of the Congress, coupled with its weakened organisational and ideological state, that discredited its contention that it alone, on its own, can provide stability. As a result, the Congress party badly failed to take on the combination headed by the BJP. In the ultimate analysis, by not advancing any alternative socio-economic platform that would benefit the people, the Congress fell into the trap of the BJP which made it a contest between Atal Behari Vajpayee and Sonia Gandhi.

LACK OF DEMARCATION

Naturally, any attempt at reviving the Congress would have necessitated an appraisal by its leadership of the party's failings that have led to its continued decline. This would have in turn occasioned recasting its policies and programme to make them people-oriented. But nothing of the sort appears to be forthcoming. On the contrary, by claiming that the policies of liberalisation, etc., are in fact its own, the Congress has failed to demarcate itself from the BJP, a party that represents the same bourgeois-landlord classes whose class interests the Congress has been championing. In fact, following in the Congress' footsteps, the BJP is implementing the same economic policies though with much more vehemence.

This means the Congress has failed to draw any lessons from its past follies. The Congress of today is only a shadow of its earlier self and bears only a distant resemblance to the organisation that existed 52 years ago. Over the years the Congress has been a declining force, both organisationally as well as in terms of electoral victories. From enjoying a two-thirds majority, it now does not command the confidence of even one-fourth of the members in Lok Sabha. The party, which claims to inherit the legacy of the movement that the Congress represented in the pre-independence days, has reduced itself to a pathetic state. The present leadership seems to have forgotten that its predecessors were able to invoke the aspirations of the freedom movement and reap benefits. It is a different matter that nothing much was done to translate those dreams into reality. Now, having given up even the pretense of championing the interests of the poor, the backwards and the minorities, who constituted the bulk of the electoral support of the Congress, what else should it expect?

The immediate post-independence period saw the enactment of various land legislations by several state assemblies headed by the Congress. It also saw adoption of various measures that were in tune with the politico-social agenda that were set by the national movement. The resources and outlay for education, health care and other social sectors were all dictated by the perspective set out by the freedom movement as well as by the international scenario. While the enactment on land should be seen in the light of the revolt by the peasantry in many parts of the country, especially in Telangana, other social welfare measures were introduced in the background of similar measures enacted in other parts of the world to counter the socialist threat.

CONGRESS FAILS, BJP GAINS

During the 52 years of its existence, independent India has been ruled by the Congress for nearly 45 years. The fact that even today more than 40 per cent of the population live below the poverty line; 50 per cent of the country's population is illiterate; more than ten crore are unemployed; millions are homeless -- are all a standing testimony to the consequences of the path of development pursued by the Congress party while in government. The "rich," as the late Congress stalwart Jawaharlal Nehru himself stated, "continue to grow richer, while the poor continue to become poorer." Disparities between the rich and the poor, as also between different regions in the country, have grown.

While the Congress party alienated itself from the people, the rightist forces represented by the BJP filled the vacuum thus created. While not presenting any alternative programme that would be people oriented, the BJP whipped up communal and chauvinist passions to distract the attention of the people. However, it should be mentioned that this was on account of the failure of the Left and democratic forces to fill in the void.

The debacle of the Congress party in the 1996 elections should have served as a warning. The tenure of the Narasimha Rao regime (1991-96) saw the policies of liberalisation and privatisation being initiated. The Indian monopoly houses had come of age and a reorientation in policy was required to suit their interests. Hence their need to curb the stake of the public sector in the Indian economy and replace it with the private sector. With the setbacks to socialism in various countries and the cutting down on public spending in social sectors, the Indian rulers also adopted such a course. This was to lead to resentment among much large sections of the people. The discontent thus brewed, however, went to the advantage of the BJP, as noted earlier.

The two subsequent elections in 1998 and 1999 too did not see the Congress anywhere near revival. Congress leaders mistakenly presumed that a mere change of leader would change their fortunes. But, in the absence of a pro-people policies and programme, and of a clear demarcation from the BJP, this was not to be. The change of guard midway through the election process did not see any major gains for the Congress. The 1999 elections, which saw added colours, with Sonia Gandhi throwing herself into the fray also failed to stem the rot. When Mrs Sonia Gandhi jumped into the election fray, it did pay to the Congress to an extent. The exodus of the Congressmen to the BJP side was somewhat halted. But in the absence of a positive platform, Sonia's appeal could not be translated into votes, as the Congress leaders were expecting, and the party has now come out with its worst ever performance.

INSINCERE ATTEMPT

It was in this background that the Anthony commission was constituted by the CWC to go into the causes for the party's debacle in the recent elections. Though the commission has tried to point out some immediate causes, there are no signs that the commission has looked into the basic cause of the failure -- lack of people's support due to lack of confidence in its programme and policies. Has the commission headed by A K Anthony pointed out that the people identified the party with the same economic platform as that advocated by the BJP? In fact, the causes pointed by the commission -- for example, the Kargil war, indiscipline and factionalism within the Congress organisation, choice of wrong candidates, etc., -- can be said to be only secondary causes which wrought havoc to the party in the absence of a positive programme.

A pointer to the priority the Congress leaders accord to issues can be gauged by the developments in Orissa. While the attention and sympathy of the whole country is drawn to the victims of the super-cyclone and the large scale destruction that it wrought, the ruling party seems to be immersed in internal bickerings. It is indeed pathetic to see different factions lobbying to dethrone the present incumbent, Girdhar Gamang, while their energies should have been focussed on relief and rehabilitation work. This is especially so when the party has suffered major losses in Orissa in the Lok Sabha elections. In fact, the Orissa government was also seen as dismally lacking in relief and rehabilitation operations.

However, while the Congress leadership has pledged support to the measures initiated by the Vajpayee government to further liberalise and privatise the financial sector, there are voices of discord within the organisation. Grass-roots level workers of the party and representatives with a mass backing are questioning the leadership's wisdom on this count. However, such voices are not strong enough to influence policy decisions within the Congress party. This is certain to get reflected in the ongoing parliament session.. While the Congress will be lending support to the IRDA and other such bills, the labour unions under its leadership and the INTUC will be joining hands with the Left-led unions to oppose these measures. The same will be the case with the unions under the banner of the BMS. Both in the insurance and the banking sectors, the INTUC and BMS controlled unions are opposed to these measures. Alongwith the Left, the Samajwadi Party, the AIADMK and RJD have also voiced their opposition to the IRDA bill and demanded that it be sent to a Select Committee of parliament. However, the Congress leaders still seem to be oblivious of this groundswell of protest against the IMF-World Bank dictated policies of liberalisation and privatisation. The discussion on the IRDA bill on December 1 only confirms this fact.

At the same time, with the communal BJP clearly opting for anti-people, thoroughly rightist policies, the Congress is only weakening the anti-communal as well as anti-imperialist struggle by succumbing to the pressure mounted on it by the big bourgeoisie. This poses a real threat to the nation's unity as well as economic sovereignty, its time-tested independent foreign policy and its place in the comity of nations.