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Mrs. Sonia Gandhi's enrolment as a primary member of the Congress(I) was bound
to cause a certain amount of excitement among the partymen. There has been the
predictable rush among senior leaders to be seen as hailing her decision. Also
predictably the development has been seen as having fundamentally altered the
equations within the Congress(I). Predictions of a rival power centre have been
made with considerable relish.
However, in all fairness to the lady who resides at 10, Janpath it must be
conceded that she has done or said nothing that should be seen as wanting to usurp
a leadership role for herself. Those close to her wish to point out that the
Congress(I), in its collective wisdom, had offered her the crown in 1991 and she
had declined the honour. What is more she could have staked -- and, that too
probably successfully -- a claim to leadership in the party anytime since 1991.
She resisted the temptation to intervene in the internal affairs of the
Congress(I), especially in the wake of the "split" in 1995.
Would it, then, be fair to suspect Mrs. Sonia Gandhi of a craving for power?
Perhaps not. At least not now.
No doubt there are a very large number of individuals who would be only too happy
to use and exploit her name in order to upset the prevailing equations in the
Congress(I). For example, there was Mr. S.S. Ahluwalia proclaiming before
television cameras that nobody could prevent her from taking over the
presidentship of the Congress(I). These self-serving leaders are precisely the
ones who give the "dynasty" the bad name.
Mercifully, six years away from political limelight have given Mrs. Sonia Gandhi a
fairly good idea of the entirely selfish and exploitative traits of the so-called
friends and defenders of the Nehru-Gandhi family. She can be trusted not to be
taken in by these self-appointed and self-serving "Rajiv loyalists".
Also mercifully both the Congress(I) president, Mr. Sitaram Kesri, and Mrs. Sonia
Gandhi are known to be convinced that motivated tale-carriers -- a class peculiar
to the political milieu New Delhi and one that breeds and thrives on leaders'
psychological insecurities -- should not be allowed to create suspicion between
the two. It can neither help Mrs. Sonia Gandhi nor Mr. Kesri nor serve the
Congress(I) if an air of mistrust is allowed to develop between the AICC(I)
establishment and 10, janpath.
Assuming Mr. Kesri and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi keep the mischief-mongers at arms'length,
her involvement in the affairs of the Congress(I) ensures, at least, that various
party leaders would have to revise their calculations. The Kesri era has whetted
the Congressmen's apetite. Anyone who grabs a few headlines thinks he is
competent enough to claim a leadership role. With Mrs. Sonia Gandhi's active
association with the Congress(I), it would not be all that easy to hijack the
party.
At the same time it has to be kept in mind that outside the Congress(I). Mrs.
Sonia Gandhi's appeal and attraction have yet to be tested. For one thing, it is
not at all certain that the country would accept her -- a naturalised foreigner --
in any visible leadership role in this golden jubilee year of our Independence.
For another, the country would like to be assured that her return to the political
arena did not mean the resurrection of the old Bent and the Beautiful set. While
it would be perfectly legitimate for her to want to defend the honour of her late
husband in tie Bofors controversy, she must have probably realised that the
country is no mood to countenance the resurrection of the Satish Sharmas and the
Amitabh Bachchans.
For now the onus will be on Mrs. Gandhi to prove that she has the best interests
of the Congress(I) at heart and that she wants to serve the party in these
difficult times. Mere membership of the Nehru-Gandhi family is not enough to
claim any leadership role. She must fulfill another tradition of the Nehru-Gandhi
family: a demonstrative willingness to serve and sacrifice for the party.
If she can spend the next few years travelling around the country, mingling with
the Congress (I) workers, speaking up for them, she will have earned a right to
demand a critical role in the party hierarchy. Mere dynastic credentials would
not suffice. In other words, she will have to go through the exacting route of
democratic legitimacy.
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