Alva down, not out

Senior leader Margaret Alva may have lost key positions in the Congress, but it is not the end of her innings in the party yet. An indication of the possibility of her rehabilitation in the near future came when Archana Dalmiya, a close confidante of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, called on Alva at her residence shortly after the party announced the acceptance of her resignation as AICC general secretary and removal from its central election committee and the Congress Working Committee. In a party where leaders are known to shun their colleagues at the slightest hint of the high command’s displeasure, Dalmiya’s gesture did not go unnoticed. No wonder few leaders, except the irrepressible M Veerappa Moily, are ready to speak against Alva.