Party Poopers

Conventional wisdom-and conventional wisdom generally contains much wisdom-says that Sonia Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi alone is responsible for the mess. This, of course, is true, but we should remember that she is aided and abetted by an extraordinarily mediocre, self-serving, cynical, incompetent, selfish, ignorant and greedy first eleven which should be held equally, if not more, culpable. Congress leaders with few honourable exceptions are a pathetic lot. In our eagerness to identify a single villain we sometimes forget their contribution to the party's perilous state.

Even a passing conversation with these ladies and gentlemen leads to instant depression. They have not the slightest interest in the health of the party; their sole and solitary interest is the advance of their respective careers. Solicited or unsolicited advice they offer to the Supreme Leader is mediated through this prism. Any issue-the composition of the publicity committee, cuts in subsidies, the nature of India's nuclear posture-is quickly reduced to the aforementioned common denominator and addressed accordingly.

Politics, doubtless, is about climbing the greasy pole, but the Congresswallah sees nothing but the pole. It is not a question of visionless people, here we are talking about those who are stone-blind. So, by all means, blame Sonia Gandhi, but don't forget the merry men who help her to spread the rot.