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"Now it's a street fight," said a member of the All India Congress Working Committee, summing up the mood in his party.
Behind the paralysing of Parliament lies the Congress strategy. Its leaders know that allowing for a debate in the house will be playing into the National Democratic Alliance's hands, since the government's defence will be telecast across the nation. Ergo, Parliament has little chance of transacting any serious till March 23, its recess.
"It will be a fatal mistake to permit a debate and allow NDA leaders to use Parliament and let their defence be televised," said a Sonia loyalist.
The Congress think-tank knows that Sonia and others seniors in the party cannot hope to match the oratorical skills of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, NDA convenor George Fernandes or even second-rank leaders in the NDA.
After March 23, the Congress plans to turn on the heat even further. Sonia Gandhi will meet President K R Narayanan and request him to be proactive on the issue. While the final agenda for the meeting with the Prez has not been decided, in a day or two the Congress party will announce plans for mass agitations at the state and district levels. Chief ministers of Congress-ruled states have been asked to hold press conferences and organise public meetings, which senior leaders from Delhi will attend.
"The party is conducting an informal survey of people's reactions and making an assessment of Sonia's credentials for the prime minister's post under the changed circumstances," the working committee member told rediff.com.
Meanwhile, it was an unnerving weekend for the NDA, with it struggling with the situation. Through Ramakrishna Hegde's rumblings and with minor allies in the south threatening to quit, Home Minister L K Advani mooted a massive public meeting at the Ramleela maidan in New Delhi. Fernandes took no time to fix up the show, and the chief ministers of NDA-ruled states, like the Telugu Desam Party's Chandrababu Naidu, M Karunanidhi from Tamil Nadu and Naveen Patnaik have already confirmed their participation.
The Lok Dal's Om Prakash Chautala has promised a 'crowd of two lakh' and Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal agreed to help make this a memorable NDA show.
March 25 was chosen as an appropriate date, since once Parliament session goes into recess the Congress plans to take to the streets, and the public rally is being seen as the NDA's riposte.
"Now, the NDA and Congress will fight street battles, the way anti-Congress forces did after the Bofors scandal," said the Congress parliamentarian.
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