ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that by the end of 1986 it was clear that in the absence of shared principles for national economic and social policies, Rajiv Gandhi's politics of reconciliation could not recreate cohesion within the Congress party. The collapse of consensus in the Congress, with partymen unable to cooperate in mobilizing voter support around a coherent program, had a swift effect on the electoral performance of the ruling party. The most potent challenges to Congress predominance were raised at the regional level by state parties that could appeal to shared identities rooted in language or ethnicity. Starting with the 1972 elections, the Congress party increased the number of tickets it gave to persons belonging to the backward classes, scheduled castes, tribals and Muslims, albeit without dramatically displacing the dominant castes. The achievement often attributed to Mrs. Gandhi by her defenders is that by using these tactics she neutralized the left inside the Congress party.
