Chatting about UN reforms with a European diplomat at an informal gathering, some of us asked why Britain was still there in the Security Council. They are no longer a military power, nor an economic power. They have a veto, but have never cast it on their own since 1972, the year in which Correlli Barnett published The Collapse of British Power. Worse, they haven’t toed a line of their own in the council on any global issue since.
After discussing several whys and why-nots, she started writing down the reasons and scoring out one by one.
Point: They were big when the UN was formed. Counter: They are no longer big.
Point: They have the big bomb. Counter: Neither they nor four of the big five had the bomb when they were made members.
Point: All five have the bomb now. Counter: So do India and Pakistan.
Point: They still have diplomatic clout. Counter: So does Germany.
Finally, she admitted: “I guess there is only one reason—they are there because we feel it good to have them around.” We all burst out laughing.
The Congress’s continuance in the INDIA alliance is becoming something like Britain’s in the council. There is no concrete reason for the grand old party to be there, save that many feel it is good to have them around.
Imaging: Deni Lal
Look at the record. The Congress hasn’t done anything to justify their membership in the alliance since its formation. They may have won close to 100 seats in the Lok Sabha polls (their best show in 15 years), but most of those came thanks to one ally or another—the DMK in Tamil Nadu, the NCP in Maharashtra, the Samajwadis in Uttar Pradesh, the JMM in Jharkhand, the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir and so on. In the states where they took on the BJP on their own, they drew a blank, lost seats or gained too few for them to stand up and be counted.
In the assembly rounds later? They lost Haryana which they could have won, and Maharashtra where they sank and drowned their allies. In short, neither is the Congress winning seats nor is it aiding allies to win. Yet, if they are in the alliance, it is only because many think they are nice people to know, and it is good to have them around.
How long will this ‘feel good’ last? The Trinamoolis are wondering if Mamata Banerjee would be a better alliance leader than anyone from the Congress. It’s another matter that she wasn’t in the alliance during the Lok Sabha polls. Not a bad idea, say the NCPians. Akhilesh Yadav and M.K. Stalin, the good boys in the group, don’t know what to say, though both are miffed with the way the Congress flopped the floor show in Parliament in the last session. They wanted other issues to be brought to the fore, but the Congress ploughed its lonely Adani furrow which got them nowhere.
All these are nice and polite folk—the Trinamoolis, the Dravidians, the Samajwadis and the NCPians. Being old hard-boiled political eggs, they talk nice and sweet. They air their dissent mildly.
Not the Aam Aadmis, upstarts! Though spurned in Haryana, they had counted on the Congress to come to their aid in the Delhi assembly round where they are on shakier ground than five or ten years ago. If not an alliance, at least a friendly fight? And why not? Only months ago had they gracefully granted three of Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha seats to the rudderless Congress, and even campaigned for them free? A return favour? No, said the Congress.
To the Aam Aadmis, that was the unkindest cut of all. No wonder they have called for kicking the Congress out of India.
Wake up, Congress! You still have strengths. You are the only one in the alliance with an all-India presence. Use it for your good and of your team.
prasannan@theweek.in