The Congress is entitled to visualise a sprawling scene of political ashes from which it can rise like a phoenix, even regaining itsold glory and vigour. That possibility need not be ruled out if all others decide to fight each other and Congressmen choose, for a change, not to wreck their own prospects. Others may stand divided, but Congressmen can be depended upon not to oblige themselves. By force of habit, they have to work at cross purposes. That makes coalition an inevitability. What is interesting is that Sonia Gandhi is willing to go for it. This is a big change. The Congress on occasions had to ride on others' back for a while. Indira Gandhi remained prime minister for some time without her party having a majority. Others, even some sworn enemies, made it possible without asking for a berth in her company. Narasimha Rao proved that it is not necessary to win a majority to run a full term. He won ready support from outside, sometimes from friends, sometimes from foes. He could perform that trick without going in for a coalition. Now a coalition seems to be inescapable. And, as a last resort, Sonia Gandhi will go for it. That wasthe declaration made in Panchmarhi. There is nothing necessarily wrong with a coalition. A coalition of Congressmen and socialists may be no more combustible than an unadulterated team of Congressmen. To put it differently, a single party more heterogenous than a coalition. A party can have more enemies within than outside. The history of the Congress bears testimony to this. It has taken successive defeats and virtual decimation in what was once regarded as the party's impregnable fortress.

The coalescence of avowedly dissimilar elements is a nice thing to watch. Every party contains such dissimilar elements, but lack of similarity is never declared. The beauty of a coalition that may now be put together under the leadership or with the participation of the Congress is that it will contain entirely unlikely elements. A coalition with the participation of parties which have for long been, on the one hand, against coalitions and, on the other, pathologically inimical to the Congress has become a politicalpossibility. Such a union of divergences is always delightful.

The approach of others to a national coalition has not been different from the Congress view. The BJP had long been a prisoner of the illusion that a Hindu India will accept it as its ruling party for eternity. The CPM had never been able to disabuse itself of the notions about the party's dictatorship. The BJP changed its stand when it became necessary to grab power. Its leaders know, as well as anyone else, that coalition partners are recruited not so much on the basic of desirability as on the basis of availability. The CPM leadership has also now realised that the Indian revolution can be accomplished only by aligning with the Congress. It is rather early to consider whether there will be a Congress ministry in New Delhi soon, or whether such a ministry will have support from outside or inside. But it is now a settled fact of political dreariness that the CPM and CPI leaders will work hard to make such a ministry possible. They cannot but doso after identifying the Bharatiya Janata Party as their main enemy. That is a thought tinged with regret. The regret is that what has now been identified drew its sustenance in the past few years partly from the communist campaign against the Congress. During those years, the Indian revolution did not come a centimetre closer. The Congress was practically decimated and, worst, the BJP grew phenomenally. That was the grand failure of a strategy.

The strategy, mind you, not merely the tactic, is now changed. Originally, the Congress alone was the main enemy. Then the Congress and the BJP became twin enemies. Then it was decided that any ministry made possible by the Congress would not have communist support. Then there was condition that the Congress could back a government but not join it. And now it has all changed. Now that the BJP has emerged at the centre, everything should be done to stop it. The first thing is to make it possible for the Congress to put together a coalition, predictably under SoniaGandhi's stewardship. The next thing is for the CPM to join that coalition in a revolutionary bid to build a bulwark against the main enemy. Whether it all happens that way or not, most people are mentally ready for it. And that will go down as a significant political change in the history of this century.