COVER STORY

'Idealism has to be mixed with pragmatism'

P. Shiv Shankar, deputy leader of the Congress(I) in the Lok Sabha, is considered to be one of party president Sonia Gandhi's most trusted lieutenants. He is known to have had a role in shaping the policy and organisational initiatives undertaken by the Congress(I) in recent times. In an interview to Venkitesh Ramakrishnan, he evaluates the impact that Sonia Gandhi has had on national politics and on the party organisation during her first year as Congress(I) president. Excerpts:

A year after Sonia Gandhi took over as Congress(I) president, how would you evaulate her contribution to the party organisation and her impact on national politics?

In the 1996 Lok Sabha elections the Congress(I) won 139 seats. If Sonia Gandhi had not campaigned for the party ahead of the 1998 elections, our tally would have been very low... That was the kind of leadership we had. It was Soniaji's emergence that helped us get 140 seats. After taking over as president, she has given a great fillip to the organisation. She has imparted or brought back a sense of scruples and principles to Congress(I) politics, which many of our former leaders had forgotten. Not that these efforts have succeeded completely. But Soniaji has made a beginning. And, most important, she has integrated the party, and its functioning is much more cohesive now. The verdict in the Assembly elections in November 1998 pointed towards this new dynamism. If elections are held in the South Indian States now, the Congress(I) will win overwhelmingly. The nation now knows that there is a leader on whom it can rely.

But there have been suggestions, even from sections within the party, that Sonia Gandhi has bungled in respect of the Bihar situation and the follow-up to the proposals of the Pachmarhi conclave.

This criticism is totally misplaced. About Bihar, the leaders of the BJP and the Samata Party say that Soniaji misled them by initially saying that the RJD had lost its moral authority to rule and later opposing the imposition of President's Rule. There is no dichotomy here. When Soniaji said that the RJD had lost the moral authority to rule, it was not meant as a signal to the Centre to rush in and impose President's Rule. Instead, it was a warning to the RJD to change its leadership in the State and mend its ways.

As for the Pachmarhi proposals, one should understand that they visualise an ideal organisational situation. But in day-to-day politics, idealism has to be mixed with pragmatism. The Congress(I) Working Committee (CWC) realised that many of the proposals could not be implemented immediately. Take, for example, the proposal to reserve 33 per cent of party posts for women. It could not be implemented because we were not able to find enough women leaders who fit the bill. We are sure that we will reach the ideal situation in the future, but until that time idealism has to be mixed with pragmatism. That is why the CWC termed the Pachmarhi proposals as a reference document.

There is also the view that Sonia Gandhi has not really made any attempt to bring down the BJP-led Government.

SANDEEP SAXENA

We have been playing the role of a constructive Opposition. The BJP asked for a fair chance to rule. And I suppose we have given it exactly that. But they are making a mess of it. Their attitude towards governance is making it more and more difficult for us not to play the role of a natural Opposition - that is, to oppose, chastise and ultimately depose the Government.

Is the Congress(I) getting ready to play this "ultimate role"? The increased level of cooperation with other Opposition parties during the Budget session of Parliament has given rise to this question.

The basic factor with regard to our relationship with the Government is that the parties in the ruling coalition, particularly the BJP, have shown a total lack of governing skills. They talk all the time about consensus, but never call Opposition parties for any discussion on important matters. Take Prasar Bharati, for instance: they did not bring it to the Rajya Sabha, where it cannot be passed without the Opposition's help. The resolution to ratify President's Rule in Bihar was passed in the Lok Sabha but not brought to the Rajya Sabha. They just want to play around with Parliament and the country and make political gains. This approach has brought great harm to the country.

But the Congress(I) has time and again bailed out the Government, especially on economic policy issues such as the Patents Bill.

It is true that the Congress(I) has supported the Government on important economic policy issues. But the problem with the Government is that even here it does not have any cohesion. While one section of the BJP supports economic liberalisation, another section opposes it in the name of swadeshi. What sort of governance is this? I do not think that the country can put up with this for long.