Elusive Alternative IF anyone expected a viable alternative programme from the opposition, the latter could not have chosen a better way to dash such expectations than the recent Delhi meeting of the non-Congress(l) chief ministers. All talk about a national alternative to the ruling party at the centre relapsed into the old ritualistic pledges of movements and demands for greater financial powers for the state governments, and ended with a pleasant tea party with Rajiv Gandhi where the chief ministers assured a nervous prime minister that they would remain 'His Majesty's Loyal Opposition'.