Does existence of serve any purpose

Does existence of serve any purpose. It is possible to argue that even the party?s birth arose out of a misplaced confidence in its potential strength.

Does the existence of the Nationalist Congress Party still serve any purpose? It is possible to argue that even the party’s birth arose out of a misplaced confidence in its potential strength.

When Sharad Pawar led a revolt against Sonia Gandhi’s leadership before the last general election, he had been promised support by many Congress leaders who  backed out at the last minute. Thus, at the moment of its creation, the new NCP had only Mr Pawar and his Maharashtra base to depend on. Other members, such as Purno Sangma, had a high media profile, but relatively little political strength in the Indian heartland. And Tariq Anwar was, at best, a marginal figure in the post-Sitaram Kesri era.

Worse still, from Mr Pawar’s point of view, he picked the wrong issue to base the NCP on. Had he said what he and his friends truly believed — that Sonia Gandhi could not lead the Congress to victory — Mr Pawar’s motives would have seemed respectable. It would have  also allowed him to say later that perhaps Mrs Gandhi had learned on the job or that circumstances had changed. Instead, by focusing on Mrs Gandhi’s Italian birth, the NCP painted itself into a corner. When it aligned with the Congress in Maharashtra after the election it had to claim that a party led by an Italian-born individual was acceptable in Bombay but not in Delhi.

Now, having ejected the noisy Mr Sangma along the way, Mr Pawar has aligned nationally with Sonia Gandhi’s Congress and done a flip-flop on the foreign origin issue. Voters are entitled to ask: if the NCP believes in the same things as the Congress, runs a government with it in Maharashtra and has no problems with an Italian-born Congress president, then why does it need an independent existence? Why not just merge back with the parent Congress and strengthen both parties?