Editorial

Rolling Back BJP

In the campaign to roll back the BJP the ensuing Assembly elections in five States _ Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram _ will be a crucial factor. Barring Mizoram, Congress is already in power in the other four states. Every effort needs to be made and indeed is being made not only to retain power in these states, but improve the party position in the Assemblies. Reports from these states indicate that this definitely will be the case. Mizoram too is veering round to the Congress. Why state after state is coming back to the Congress? There are a number of reasons for this. First and foremost is the leadership of Smt. Sonia Gandhi. Defying the habitual predictions of political Pundits, she exhibited beyond everyone's imagination an extraordinary quality to carry along the Congress Party. Given its history, liberal and democratic outlook, Congress has always been a collage of ideas. It has never been and will never be totalitarian.

Traditionally the Congress party sheltered and promoted different schools of thought, which looked contradictory at times, under its vast canopy of general discipline. Recognising the merit of each of these schools of ideas, harmonizing them and channelising them into a constructive party programme has been the real task of every Congress President. It is an awesome task even in normal times. It looked an impossible enterprise when Smt. Sonia Gandhi boldly ventured to take the reigns of the party five years ago. It did not take her much time to prove that she was more than equal to the task of uniting the various groups and factions within the party and effectively check further fragmentation. This gigantic effort required remarkable leadership qualities. Injecting hope and dynamism among the rank and file demanded tremendous foresight, comprehension of the realities, clarity of thought and direction and above all patience.

On the one hand she had won over the hearts and minds of the party leadership and the workers by giving the Congress once again life and future and on the other the love and support of the voters by understanding their problems, hopes and aspirations. The party programmes and manifestos that were formulated under her leadership amply reflect this. The chain of electoral victories the Congress party scored under her leadership bringing virtually half of the states to the party fold stands testimony to the unique place she has earned in contemporary Indian political scene. She has enthused the party to undertake a historic mission _ to roll back the BJP. When the Congress party fights an election, it does so, not just for power, but also to defeat this obscurantist party that promotes fundamentalism seeking to recreate a medieval era in this 21st century. BJP's so-called programmes and plans are the opposite of not only what the Congress stands for, but the entire country.

There is widespread realisation in every part of the country that the present political dispensation of BJP-led NDA government at the Centre must not be allowed to go on. There is also a realisation that the Congress party alone can defeat the fundamentalist threat to the nation and rescue it from certain disaster. The massive response the Congress has been receiving everywhere shows the strong urge among the people for a change. The election rallies Smt. Sonia Gandhi has addressed in the states going to polls witnessed overwhelming crowds keen on knowing her analysis of the present situation and her vision of India. A historic battle is underway whose outcome will determine the future of India. It is the duty of every Congress worker to ensure the victory of this great mission.