India-China Ties without the Pakistani Entanglement

before inflicting a serious blow on the unity of the government and the Janata Dal and a much bigger blow on his own image as the tau of Jat politics, Devi Lal's threatened resignation gave Rajiv Gandhi an indefinite lease of life as president of the Congress(I). Those Con- gress(I) leaders who had been talking openly about finding a new party leader through organisational elections before the summer suddenly stopped in their tracks sniffing the air for even a slight scent of political power wafting back into the greedy clasp of the Congress(I). This was not the time to scuttle the leadership! Who but Rajiv Gandhi could take the party back to power so soon and in a dramatic way? Even as the chances of a serious inner-party crisis in the Janata Dal lingered, the Congress(I) stuck to its frozen posture waiting for the manner in which the political future of Chautala was determined. Would Devi Lal submit to the removal of his son from the chief ministership and thus let go the family business of politics? The Congress(I) did indeed miss the first chance, but must it not wait for the second?