If the results of the recently held Lok Sabha elections have surprised the Indians and non-Indians alike all over the world, the historic crash of stock markets and the subsequent decision of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi not to be the Prime Minister of India have left them baffled. By her decision, she and many who have been opposing her becoming Prime Minister of India because of her Italian birth, have heaved a sigh of relief while her staunch supporters have been "heartbroken."
What forced Sonia Gandhi to take such a decision? The decision was not "momentous" after the May 17 developments, but the announcement came only on May 18 after she met the President.
It was evident by May 17 evening, when she was having prolonged confabulations with the allies first and then with their leaders next, as the situation around 10 Janpath turned tense with the rumors that Sonia Gandhi was "reluctant" to carry the mantle of Prime Ministership. It was also true the allies - particularly the Left parties -- were not ready to accept her "no." The twice postponed meeting of waiting Congress MPs at her residence, which did not take place, finally made them to depart with a brief announcement to them by Pranab Mukherjee that the President had invited her and there was no need for them believe any rumors.
But, for her the momentous decision to honor the "inner voice" only came after she met the President on May 18. It is significant to note that the President's invitation to her has specific that she meet him to "discuss" the formation of the next government. It is also equally significant to note that she had met him alone. What transpired between the President and Sonia Gandhi has not been announced by them, but if Delhi newspapers are to be believed that the President has raised many Constitutional "improprieties" that have surfaced because of her foreign birth and "duel citizenship" that needed to be answered by her.
Was it here at this moment that her "inner voice" dictated her not to stake the claim to be the Prime Minister of India? The President has all along been in touch with the Constitutional experts about the issues that have been often asked by people and legal experts about her eligibility to this top post. The main questions perhaps pertained to her owning immovable property in Italy and the reciprocity of citizenship privileges that existed in Italy for a naturalized Indian Italian. It is stated that in the affidavit filed by her before the returning officer of the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency, she had made it clear that she owned ancestral property - a portion of a house - in Orbassano, Italy.
In a petition to the President, Sushma Swaraj also raised a very valid question. She referred to the fact that a Defense or Indian Foreign Service official cannot even marry a foreign national without permission, or must quit his or her post. "In such a situation," she asked, "how could a person of foreign origin be handed over the nuclear button?"
While the initial jolt was the stock market crash, a harbinger of things to come for Sonia Gandhi, the real thrust for "inner voice" to speak to her came only after she had the meeting with the President. While the President gauged the popular pulse of the people about the impropriety of her holding the highest office, he had only two choices - one to explain to her what comes in her way to be the Prime Minister, or simply explain his disinclination to administer her the oath office. The latter would have been an extreme step but not impossible. To defuse the situation, perhaps, he himself had offered to step down if she was adamant to withdraw herself. That might have triggered the "inner voice" of Sonia Gandhi.
Whatever may be the reason, a nation
of one billion people has been spared from the embarrassment of having
a foreign-born person being its Prime Minister.