Sonia party - The Indian Express
Editorial
()
10 May 1997
Title : Sonia party
Author : Editorial
Publication : The Indian Express
Date : May 10, 1997
Sonia Gandhi has merely exercised her right as an Indian citizen when she joined
the Congress as a primary member. Her Italian ancestry is not germane to the
issue and few would, therefore, find fault with her on this.. However, the plunge
she has taken gives a lie to her claim that party politics has not been her cup of
tea. Whether the primary membership is a step to bigger posts in the Congress or
not, she will, perforce, have to shed the image of an apolitical person that she
had all along cultivated for herself. Along with the privileges that a member of
the Congress enjoys, she also inherits the obligations that go with it. in away,
the decision is welcome as it legitimises her role in the Congress, which has been
extra-constitutional so far. Hereafter, she will not be able to pull the strings
from behind the scene as she will be increasingly under public glare. In
retrospect, her much-touted renunciation of the leadership of the Congress that
was presented to her on a platter soon after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was
nothing but a cold, calculated image-building exercise. Obviously, she had been
marking. time to make a grand entry into politics.
It is a measure of the bankruptcy of the century-old Congress that it has gone
ga-ga about Sonia Gandhi's enrolment as a member. It is the height of sycophancy
when one of the Congress leaders says unabashedly that she is worth more than all
the AICC members put together. It also speaks volumes for the state of the party
that its leaders pin all their hopes of rejuvenating the moribund organisation on
an attempt to revive the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. It is amazing that the party is
not able to think of any other way to win back popular support and regain the
party's pre-eminence save tying the Congress to her apron strings. lie euphoric
reaction within the Congress cannot but dishearten all those who sincerely hoped
for the restoration of its democratic credentials after it had freed itself of the
burden of dynasty. If, even during the last seven years, many Congressmen turned
to her abode at 10, Janpath, they presumed that it was more out of habit than
necessity. How fallacious they have been is proved by the turn of events
