HVK Archives: A problem called Sonia
A problem called Sonia - The India Today
Swapan Dasgupta
()
January 19, 1998
Title: A problem called Sonia
Author: Swapan Dasgupta
Publication: The India Today
Date: January 19, 1998
There is always a ready market in India for conspiracy theories-
the more outrageous the better. As such, it is curious that no
statement-issuing politician thought it fit to link last week's
visit of Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi-ostensibly to
promote "economic and political" cooperation-with Sonia Gandhi's
plunge into electoral politics. Actually, it did not need some
garrulous conspiracy theorist to put matters into perspective.
Prodi rushed in where angels fear to tread by describing Sonia as
an "internal Indian problem". No Indian in recent times has been
as remarkably prescient.
To describe Sonia as a "problem" is putting a complex issue
charitably. She is undoubtedly a problem for Sitaram Kesri, whom
she has treated with undeserving contempt. She is a problem for
Madhavrao Scindia, Rajesh Pilot and countless other second-rung
politicians whose leadership ambitions have been thrown out of
gear. She is a problem for the rag-tag United Front which doesn't
know whether to oppose her or ride piggyback on her charisma. And
she is certainly a problem for an inquisitive media that has to
be content with reproducing tendentious piffle from "sources
close to 10 Janpath". The only time reporters got close to her
was in Rashtrapati Bhavan last week when she mistook them for
social workers. "Hello" is how she greeted them and "sorry" was
her monosyllabic exit route. Sonia doesn't talk, she merely
condescends. On state subsidy.
The problem is one of monumental loftiness. She is the only de
facto leader of a premier national party who is not available for
cross-examination, neither at press conferences nor elsewhere.
This week she will give darshan to the faithful in Sriperumbudur,
Bangalore, Hyderabad and Goa. There will also be a well-
rehearsed political message to vote for the Congress, the party
of Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. But no pesky
TV reporter will be permitted the luxury of asking "madam"
probing questions about her inheritance. And poor Atal Bihari
Vajpayee will never get a chance to debate with her on
Doordarshan. Like The Queen, Sonia can be petitioned, implored,
curtsied, occasionally quoted, but never grilled. The word
accountability is absent from her dictionary.
The problem with Sonia is not one of imperious aloofness alone.
She is the only leader in living memory who is brazenly seeking
electoral sanction for an extra-constitutional role. She turned
down the offer to lead the Congress after Rajiv's death in 1991;
she has not responded to the request to become a member of the
Congress Working Committee; and she may not even contest from the
family pocket borough in Uttar Pradesh. So what is her status?
With characteristic legal sophistry, Congress spokesman Salman
Khurshid described her as the party's "inspiration". That surely
must go down as the most innovative definition of absentee
landlordism.
Nor does the problem finally end here. Sonia has not entered the
election arena to win. Even the most optimistic Congress
supporters believe that an outright majority is impossible.
Sonia's role-like that of Kanshi Ram-is limited to ensuring that
someone else does not win. At a time when the country yearns for
stability, Sonia epitomises the most cynical face of manipulative
cussedness. She is an affront India cannot afford to wilfully
invite.
Back
Top
|
