It's pack-up time for the Congress and everyone is preparing for it.

Advisor to Prime Minister TKA Nair's desk is absolutely clean. Someone who visited him recently saw books have been divided into two lots: one that he obviously wants to take home; and another lot that will remain in the office.

 

In this day and age, no one keeps anything inciminating on computer hard drives. But some scrubbing is on, nevertheless.

 

Internally, the political leadership of the Congress has also conceded that the only play they could have is if they get around 100 seats out of 545. In that situation, there may be a chance for them to support some other formation at the centre. But these theories are trotted out tiredly, pro forma. It is almost – and you can sense this - that the fight has gone out of them.

 

If that is not enough, you have the most significant ally of the Congress, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) himself saying that the Congress will be the second largest party after the election !

 

The question people are asking themselves now is: what will be the nature of the opposition to a Modi-led government ? Will the Congress do to the BJP what the BJP did to it in Parliament? Will the Congress oppose everything it had proposed when it was in government? How will it react if the BJP – which is inevitable – decides to go after the Gandhi family, especially Robert Vadra who is the easiest soft target to attack (by the way, so far in this election, has anyone noticed that Vadra is not to be seen anywhere ? Not even when Sonia Gandhi filed her nomination when traditionally she used to be flanked by her family ? He made a brief foray in election campaigning some years ago revealing some traces of political ambition but the family put a stop to it).

 

In this election, the number to watch is not the seats the BJP gets – but how many the Congress gets. That will define it as an opposition.