The Congress party?s national plenary session held on the outskirts of Delhi gave an interesting peek into what shape the nation?s politics might take in the months ahead. Most significantly, the plenary, attended by 25,000 delegates from all states, was held against the backdrop of the UPA?s political equilibrium having got completely shaken following the spectrum scam and the disruptions it caused in Parliament?s functioning.

At one level, the tone and tenor of Congress president Sonia Gandhi?s closing address to the delegates seemed like one that is normally delivered when general elections are round the corner. There seemed a note of urgency in her voice when she told the Pradesh Congress delegates to go back to their states and hold one public meeting in every Assembly constituency to apprise the people of UPA?s achievements. She also sought to energise the Congress cadres by saying she had greater regard for Congressmen who worked for the party selflessly, without seeking any reward in the form of office or power. She even added that those Congressmen holding office needed to learn from such ordinary party workers.

Clearly, Sonia Gandhi was trying to raise the morale of Congressmen that might have got dented by the sheer drift that has enveloped the UPA government in recent months. With several critical state elections due in the next six to nine months, and the Opposition suddenly coming alive over the issue of corruption, the Congress is thinking very hard as to how it can wrest the initiative from the Opposition in the months ahead. The Congress is acutely aware that there are moments in politics when the tide turns in an irreversible way. Political pundits often miss such inflexion points until after it occurs.

In the past few days the UPA appears to have managed some damage control on the issue of 2G spectrum scam that has bogged down the leadership completely. Manmohan Singh finally spoke up at the Congress plenary and agreed to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament to give any clarification on the 2G spectrum allocation policy. The Prime Minister had maintained his characteristic silence on the A Raja issue for such a long time that people had begun wondering where he was.

Even on the CWG scam, Manmohan Singh broke his silence after a fairly long period. By now there is an established pattern to the manner in which the Prime Minister chooses to communicate through his silences. Unfortunately, such long silences do not help amidst the daily noise created by the Opposition through TV channels.

The UPA has taken two decisions that will help stabilise its political centre of gravity in the short to medium term. One, the CBI?s investigation of the Raja scam has been brought directly under the Supreme Court?s supervision. The people of this country still have lot of faith in the Supreme Court. Two, Manmohan Singh has offered to appear before the PAC to clarify any matter in regard to the spectrum scam.

The Opposition parties should be satisfied that they have managed to get the Prime Minister to appear before the PAC. True, a JPC would have given the Opposition a much wider political leverage for a longer time period in which it could have re-examined afresh all the files related to the spectrum allocation. I remember covering the JPC probe into the Harshad Mehta scam in the early to mid 1990s. For a long time, all media attention was on what the JPC would unravel on a day-to-day basis that would be revealed through press briefings and informal chats with JPC members, especially of the Opposition. The Congress wants to avoid repeating this spectacle over the spectrum scam.

In any case, the spectrum issue is now being thoroughly probed under the Supreme Court?s supervision, which is also being covered on a day-to-day basis by the media. So the JPC effect, in terms of incessant media coverage, is already there. This should make the Opposition happy.

While the Congress has managed to do some damage control in regard to the spectrum probe, it remains to be seen how it will keep its alliances together in the various critical Assembly elections falling due in 2011.

There are two serious issues that are rubbing off on its alliance partners in a negative manner. Corruption and unabated food inflation are potent and worrisome for the UPA. The Congress believes that part of the higher food inflation is being caused by rising rural incomes, which is not such a bad thing. However, when the overall mood turns negative then food inflation can add fuel to fire. Besides, the link between high onion prices and political churn is only too well known!

The Congress is trying to counter the growing popular resentment over corruption with its new strategy of pitching ?Ayodhya as a source of BJP?s fascist politics? and the RSS as a fountainhead of Hindu terror. The RSS recently asserted that the Ayodhya site should be handed over to the Hindus. The Congress hopes such politics will drive away potential allies of the BJP who are uncomfortable with Hindutva politics. This partially explains why Digvijay Singh projected RSS as a source of Hindu terror at the Congress plenary.

This strategy can possibly help at the margins. It is not a core issue in the current political climate. Also it cannot become a substitute for decent governance by the UPA at the Centre. Unfortunately, governance is not much in evidence over the past many months. The UPA appears to have squandered a lot of its goodwill within two years of coming back to power. From here on, the battle is clearly uphill.

mk.venu@expressindia.com