The BJP sweep: Introspection time for Congress(I).

(From Business Line)

Byline: Rasheeda Bhagat, rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

While the BJP camp is naturally jubilant over its sweep of the Hindi heartland, the Congress(I), if it wants to be a serious contender in the coming general elections, has to take a long, hard look at the bankruptcy of its second-rung leadership that can take decisions independently, says Rasheeda Bhagat.

The Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, has some soul-searching to do to recast the party's strategy before the general elections next year.

THE Bharatiya Janata Party's storming of the Hindi heartland, contrary to all expectations and forecasts, has thrown up a lot of questions, many of them pertaining to the direction that politics in India will take for both the short and the long haul.

The toughest question, along with the bitter pill that the losers in the race - Congress(I) - have to swallow pertains to the very future of India's oldest political party. In more ways than one, there were enough pointers right at the beginning of the poll campaign for these four States that the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, could hardly swing the electorate; in all the …