IN a relay race, one must trust all running partners equally, and not second-guess the other’s abilities or overestimate one’s own ability to deliver victory or gain glory. That would be a different field of activity and not the race in which the baton is passed at the quickest possible speed. Worryingly, the movement against the mass rigging of elections in India is beginning to look like a relay race in which the runners are not necessarily looking together at the end of the linear, or oval, or meandering track ahead.

In some tellings, the challenge is trickier, more like a trapeze act, and without a safety net. A miss of the clap of the partner’s hands or misjudging the timing of a leap could lead to injury or worse. No matter how equipped one party feels about its own sinews to carry the baton to the finish line by itself, a collective race offers no quarter to one-upmanship.

If the objective is to bring down the Modi government, which is what Congress and its supporters say they hope to do, there is an absence of team coordination. A clear discussion is required with all stakeholders for a shared understanding of the game plan. Call it a common minimum programme, if you like. If the objective is to clean up governance, which is what the Cockroach group has committed itself to from the start — a transparent, humane judiciary, an independent corporate-free media, accountable bureaucracy, a trustworthy election commission, a truly representative parliament with 50 per........

© Dawn