Turning it around

The road to recovery is always full of minefields. One misstep and you could see the end of the journey itself. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, once contemptuously dismissed by her critics as a foreigner who could not even read Hindi, the natural language of Indian politics, first carefully crafted a political turnaround, and then amazingly sustained it.
She began as a non-politico, and now is quite a virtuoso in the art of the possible.In the process, she has overcome accomplished masters of the art representing all shades of the political spectrum. Indeed, there is no one who has emerged unscathed in any encounter with her.
A large share of the credit for this success has to go to the team that she has led admirably during this period. Her choice of personnel, be it Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the general-in-chief and chief trouble shooter Pranab Mukherjee or the unflappable Ahmed Patel, has been justified if only on the grounds that there has been no public spat among these players in all these years.
There is no dearth of instances in recent political history wherein personal ambitions and ego clashes have ruined the prospects of a party at the apex of its power. But with Sonia Gandhi at the helm of affairs, ambitions and talents have been harnessed to the advantage of the team and this could be an object lesson for those who are aspiring to be team leaders.
Of course there is nothing that shall satisfy those who have habitually struck at the Congress for being authoritarian and autocratic. But now they continue to do so at their own peril. With the people endorsing the policies and deeds of UPA-1, a much more invigorated Congress is leading the UPA-2 from a position of safer strength. The roadmap as spelt out by Manmohan Singh is quite elaborate and reassuring. He has also proved his ability to deliver on his promises, even in the face of crippling political circumstances.
Fortunately for the Congress, there is an increasingly acceptable GenNext leader in Rahul Gandhi. Here is a leader who, unlike the rest of the lot, is in no hurry to grab power and is prepared to work his way with the masses. It is this element that lends the vital touch of sincerity to all political pursuits and makes it more credible.
If the Congress turnaround that began in 2004 looks more sustainable now, then it is due to the chemistry that arises from a careful blending of all these factors. Not surprisingly, the opposition looks out of touch.