NEW DELHI, January 18: "Sonia lao, Congress bachao" (usher in Sonia and save the Congress) is the slogan the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) have put their faith in. But beyond that Congressmen in Delhi are as confused as everybody else.The voter may not know who to vote for but Congress workers do not know who to campaign for. The DPCC office wears a deserted look with most Congressmen flocking around former members of parliament, Meira Kumar and Jai Prakash Aggarwal.
"There is absolutely no leadership and no direction. And except for these two leaders we don't even know who to campaign for. Despite all this there is tremendous infighting among the Congressmen," says a disappointed party worker.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) and 10, Janpath have also done little to inspire the party workers.
"See the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) campaign has already picked up. Their cadres are convincing people to vote for the BJP. But what do we do ? Ours is no longer a party that can get votes
without a charismatic leader. And those at the helm of affairs are already fighting with each other," adds another worker.
The DPCC President Chowdhary Prem Singh is said to have gone to meet former finance minister Dr Manmohan Singh and urge him to contest from south Delhi. "The sooner the seats are decided the better organised we will get and prevent further defection to the BJP. Even block level defections matter as they give a bad name to the party," says another worker.
The initial euphoria of Sonia Gandhi campaigning for the party has given way to a more realistic appraisal, "Immediately after she came into the scene R.K. Dhawan's name went into the background from New Delhi. Even within the party some people have begun staying away from the Dhawan camp to show her their loyalties. And this is bad for the party's morale."
"The infighting extends to the Prem Singh-Deep Chand Bandhu rivalry and east Delhi, where we may have a good chance with a weak BJP candidate, could well be lost before the fightbegins. Lack of party leadership has really demoralised the workers of the Congress.""This is a now or never chance for us. Kesri is too old and lack lustre to woo the educated young voters of Delhi. Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi are the only two people who can do it now. See the poor response that a dynamic leader like Rajesh Pilot even though people here understand him. It is Sonia or no one and now or never," says a party worker.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
