NEW DELHI, Dec 30 : The year that rings out was full of daunting challenges for the Congress, but the oldest political party in India managed to convert many an adversity for its benefit and proving in the process its ability to weather any kind of storm.
With just a few months left for the Lok Sabha elections, which marks the fag end of the five-year term of the government led by it, the Congress stands tall as a team leader who successfully steered ahead the ruling coalition in the first such experiment at the centre in its 123-year-old history.
Many a Congress baiter had predicted that the UPA coalition would fall under the weight of its own contradictions. But the party proved them wrong, having exhibited the mastery over the nitty-gritty of the complex coalition politics at the national level.
The biggest crisis that the Congress had to confront during the year was the threat to the survival of its government following the intransigence of the Left Parties over the Indo-US Nuclear deal.
Though many predicted doom for the government, the Congress displayed its political acumen and skill and managed to win the Motion of Confidence moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Parliament in July this year. This followed the withdrawal of support by the Left parties on the nuclear deal issue.
Not only did it save its government from the Left onslaught, but also saw to it that the Nuclear deal, projected as a panacea for the energy starved country in its march towards nine to ten per cent economic growth, was sealed with the United States.
Converting into its favour the adverse circumstances arising out of the Left intransigence to the nuke deal, the Congress won over to its side the Samajwadi Party, with which it is likely to forge an alliance in the coming Lok Sabha elections as an effective arrangement to take on the formidable UP Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati.
The Congress was on a sticky wicket during the earlier part of the year with an electoral debacle in Karnataka, galloping inflation and frequent terror strikes.
But the situation reversed with the inflation and price rise beating a retreat and its fight against terrorism getting international attention and support following the November 26 Mumbai multiple terror attacks.
The government had to sacrifice its senior Minister Shivraj Patil for what was widely perceived to be inept handling of the Home Ministry, following the Mumbai terror strike. But it converted even this adverse situation in its favour by bringing forward National Investigation Agency (NIA) Bill in Parliament and getting it adopted with the support of all political parties.
The Congress had been advocating for a federal anti-terror agency, but the proposal had always met with opposition from the non-Congress governments and the Left parties on the grounds that it would be a transgression on the powers of the states to maintain law and order.
But the Congress cashed in on the situation arising out of the Mumbai terror incident and enacted the NIA legislation and amended the Unlawful Terrorists (Prevention) Act to provide more teeth to deal effectively with terror cases.
A major accomplishment of the Congress in 2008 was the introduction of the controversial Women's reservation Bill seeking to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament and State Legislature.
The bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha despite heavy opposition from even a few partners of the ruling UPA such as Rashtriya Janata Dal.
The Congress also refused to succumb to pressures from the RJD to provide for communal quota within the 33 per cent reservation for women.
A major revamp effected by the party during the year in Maharashtra. While removing Vilasrao Deshmukh from the Chief Minister's post, it found a replacement in a younger leader, Ashok Chavan. The change was effected by the party unmindful of the opposition from the formidable Narayan Rane.
The removal of Patil and Deshmukh had helped the Congress to project itself as a party which would not compromise anything in its fight against terrorism.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the party had also sent a strong message that it would not tolerate indiscipline. It wasted no time to crack the whip against senior leaders Margaret Alva, Yogendra Makwana and Narayan Rane when they openly criticised the party.
AICC General Secretary Alva was removed from the post when she alleged corruption in the ticket distribution during the last Karnataka assembly elections. The same fate befell Makwana when he questioned the ticket distribution in the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.
The suspension of Rane came within a day after he criticised Congress president Sonia Gandhiin the wake of the nomination of Chavan as the successor of Deshmukh. At the same time, the Congress pardoned former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran and readmitted him into the party and gave him a berth in the Congress Working Committee. In fact, the 91-year-old Karunkaran left the party in 2004 and floated his own political outfit.
However, he expressed his willingness to return to the party early this year.
Apparently keeping in mind the General Elections, the Congress had announced a few populist schemes, including the Rs 68,000 crore farm loan waiver to help the distressed farmers, and passed the Unorganised Workers Bill to provide social security to 400 million workers.
Though the defeat in Karnataka was humiliating for the Congress, it acted swiftly to find out the cause for its debacle by appointing a committee headed by Defence Minister A K Antony. On the basis of the Antony committee recommendations, the Congress announced its candidates for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Chhattsigarh and Mizoram well in advance. The elections to these five states were held in November-December.
The strategy paid rich dividends with the Congress retaining Delhi, winning for the third time in succession, and wresting Rajasthan from the BJP and winning in Mizoram for the first time in ten years.
Its victory in Rajasthan, Delhi and Mizoram re-energised the party workers ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, but in Jammu and Kashmir, it could only garner the third position, behind the National Conference and the Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP).
It was all the more distressing for the Party as the rival BJP found a foothold in Jammu region winning 11 seats.
Though the party had lost its face in Jammu and Kashmir, it was highlighting holding of free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir, notwithstanding the deep-rooted separatism and insurgency.
The year 2008 marked the completion of the ten years of the eventful presidency of Sonia Gandhi, who took over the mantle after remaining as a recluse for nearly six years after the assassination of her husband Rajiv Gandhi. She also became the longest serving President of the party.
However, there was no official word so far from Gandhi if she would give greater responsibility to her son Rahul Gandhi, who was made general secretary of the Congress Party last year, amid clamour among the party leaders to project him as the next Prime Minister candidate. In what is seen as his plan to assume a greater role, Mr Gandhi has embarked on a nation-wide "Discovery of India" tour from Orissa in March this year as part of the effort to reinvigorate the party.
He got wider national visibility as India's youth icon, besides kicking up a few controversies in non-Congress ruled states.
Though he was projected as the Party's mascot in the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the party had not officially confirmed if he would be projected as its Prime Ministerial candidate in the next Lok Sabha elections.
Though some leaders like Arjun Singh had raised the "Rahul-for-PM" chorus, the Party was quick to douse the demand saying that "Sonia and Rahul always kept away from any environment of sycophancy." During the year, the Congress had managed to keep its UPA flock together though its ally in Tamil Nadu was more demanding on the issues of Sethusamudram project and the LTTE Tamil issue.
After much dithering, the Congress, under pressure from its ally DMK, extended support to the controversial Rs 23,000 crore Sethusamudram Shipping Canal project at Rameswaram. On the LTTE issue , the Congress managed to convince the DMK of the steps being taken by the government to ensure the safety of the civilian Tamils in the island nation during the ongoing conflict.
The Congress stood with the Jharkhand Mukthi Morcha, an ally of the UPA, when its leader Shibu Soren wanted to become the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, replacing Madhu Koda, an independent supported earlier by the Congress to become Chief Minister.
The Congress suffered a major embarrassment when its senior minister A R Antulay who made a controversial statement insinuating that the Hindu right wing radicals were behind the killing of Maharashtra ATS Chief Hemant Karkare during the Mumbai terror strike on November 26.
At one stage, it appeared that the Antulay issue would snowball into a major threat to the government, but the leadership handled the situation with ease, by making a statement in Parliament rubbishing the allegation of Antulay and making him retract from his statement.In the year that rings in, a tough task awaits the Congress which will have to go to the people again to seek another mandate. But the lessons it had learnt to stay afloat in coalition politics will always come handy.