But the fruits of this ‘inclusive’ approach — which is meant to demarcate the UPA’s economic policies from the NDA’s — simply cannot accrue to the Congress unless there is a party machinery to serve as an interface between the people and the government. Amarinder Singh has already begun blaming the Central government for his defeat, and the ‘government versus party’ argument is likely to gain ground in the coming days.

But the party should look within. There was a time when party leaders — from Indira Gandhi down to district level functionaries — met hundreds of party workers on a daily basis, kept alive communication channels with dissidents and adversaries, and translated government policies and slogans to reap benefit for the party. Over the years the Congress worker became more and more dependent on the charisma of the Gandhi family to deliver them at the hustings, and lost the appetite and stamina for the kind of quotidian struggles that are the life-blood of a political party.

But the days of the charismatic leader who could single-handedly win elections are long over. The polity has fractured, loyalties have become ephemeral and people who used to vote for the Congress in election after election will no longer do so merely out of habit. With just about two years left for the next general elections, the Congress must realise that democracy is a daily plebiscite in which the political party more than the government plays a central role. And Sonia Gandhi would do well to spend a little more time at 24 Akbar Road instead of focusing all her energies on fine-tuning government policy.