Lalitgate: Why did the Congress lose the plot?

Did the Congress commit a tactical blunder by allowing debate on Lalitgate on the last day of Parliament? By allowing a debate on the last day, did it give sufficient time to the BJP to gather its wits and strike back?

Observers feel that the Congress leadership’s naivety stood thoroughly exposed in its poor strategy. A debate early on in the session, would not have given the BJP enough ammo. It’s explanations could not have had the kind of acceptance it has now. But, by disrupting the house all these days, the Congress showed up itself as anti-development and even in the debate, its performance was lack luster.

It could not put Sushma Swaraj on the dock, nor could it make Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan resign from their chief ministerial posts. In the end, when the discussion took place, it did not have enough arrows in its quiver to attack the BJP. Instead, it became the punching bag for the BJP, which highlighted how Quattarochchi and Anderson of Bhopal tragedy fame were helped in escaping from India during the Congress rule.

Rahul Gandhi was unable to substantiate his charge that the minister had committed an act of criminality by secretly helping a fugitive.

The BJP succeeded in painting the Congress anti-development. There is little doubt that the Congress decision to let Sushma Swaraj speak notwithstanding the din created by Sonia Gandhi's and Rahul Gandhi's storm-troopers was the result of a growing belief in the party, which was first voiced by Shashi Tharoor, that the Congress was painting itself into a corner as the reluctance of several opposition parties to support its rowdy conduct showed.

It is this dissatisfaction which has led to the first signs of a rival group which is distancing itself from the Congress and the Left. As much was evident from the attendance at a meeting convened by Nationalist Congress Party (NAC) leader Sharad Pawar, of bigwigs like the Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Janata Dal-United's Sharad Yadav, the National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Trinamool Congress' Mamata Banerjee.

A possible reason for this tactical error is that the party's present leadership has never faced a serious challenge till now. As a result it is at a loss as to how to deal with one except by creating a ruckus, says commentator Amulya Ganguly.