Disarray in Congress after poll drubbing

Wednesday, 11 December 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Disarray within the Congress burst into the open on Tuesday after its stunning defeat in state elections, with a senior figure saying the party would lose a general election and needed time in opposition to reinvent itself. Mani Shankar Aiyar - a veteran of the party who is close to the Nehru-Gandhi family that has run the Congress for decades - predicted defeat in the national election due by next May.

“Who can be even half-way realistic and expect the Congress to return to power?” Aiyar told Reuters. In a further signal of uneasiness about Congress’ chances in the general election, the leader of a key party in the coalition government said on Monday the state polls amounted to a rejection of “weak rulers”. “People do not want weak rulers,” Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar said, according to domestic media reports. “They want decisive and result-oriented leaders who will formulate policies for (the) poor and implement them.” Manmohan Singh, the taciturn 81-year-old prime minister, has been widely criticised for the government’s policy drift and a sharp economic slowdown, and for allowing corruption to spin out of control since he was appointed to a second term in 2009. Adding to the Congress’ troubles, half a dozen of its own lawmakers called for a parliamentary motion of no-confidence over a decision to split Andhra Pradesh into two. If at least 50 members of the Lok Sabha back their demand, the stage would be set for a trial of strength in which Congress would need the support of several parties to survive. Aiyar’s remarks follow a disastrous showing for the Congress in elections held over the last month in three big states and the capital, Delhi.