It has again become Sonia Gandhi 's responsibility to put together the broken pieces of opposition unity.She successfully performed this task in 2004, thereby paving the way for the Congress 's return to power after nearly a decade.But, 13 years later, the job has become far more difficult. For one, the Congress president's principal opponent, the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ), has become politically a great deal more secure as well as uncommonly aggressive under a new leadership unlike in the time of Atal Behari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani.For another, the Congress has become weaker and demoralised after its drubbing by the BJP in 2014. It will not be because they have been able to present the public with a widely acclaimed agenda for a new India. (Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst.

Source: Economic Times August 12, 2017 09:56 UTC