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| Sonia makes her presence felt | | Opposition fails to take on lady of 10 Janpath | | B L KAK
NEW DELHI: Much against the wishes of her political foes the Congress supremo, Sonia Gandhi, has emerged as a force to reckon with. Her critics do exist in her own party as well. But happily for her and her loyalists, none of these critics has the required courage to take on her, at least for the present. And the state of affairs of the non-Congress groups and leaders, arrayed against her, is not inspirng at all.
Hardline BJP. And 'socialist' Samajwadi Party. Both these parties have not concealed their dangerous desperation to counter Sonia Gandhi’s growing clout. More often than not, in recent times, the Opposition launched below-the-belt attacks on the Congress president.
Sonia achieved that status of a saint in India after turning down the office of Prime Minister in 2004. And by quitting Parliament before getting re-elected to the Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli constituency in UP recently, she has taken the wind out of the Opposition’s sails, once again. Congress hadn’t seen the Opposition offensive coming when actor Jaya Bachchan, a Samajwadi MP, was disqualified from the Rajya Sabha on the question of holding ‘office of profit.’ True, Opposition had been right in applying the same principle to Sonia Gandhi. But the way this campaign against the Congress leader was conducted was not in accordance with the great traditions of Indian democracy.
However, if the Opposition wanted to embarrass and corner the Congress by targeting its president, it has clearly failed in its attempt. Some political analysts insist that Sonia’s move is sure to strengthen the Congress ahead of crucial State elections. More importantly, it has deprived the Opposition of a very effective strategy. Like elsewhere, power and craving for power drive Indian politics. However, by repeatedly rejecting power with all its trappings, Sonia has shifted the very ground on which both ruling Congress and Opposition stand.
Some Opposition leaders have sought to link her move to upcoming elections in Hindi heartland States. The suggestion is ridiculous. If Sonia was driven by electoral calculations, what poll was she facing when she declined the PM’s job?
What the Italian-born widow of Rajiv Gandhi has done is to force the indigenous Indians to revisit their own lofty values and ideals that drove their forefathers to fight oppression and foreign rule. In spurning power twice, Sonia has unconsciously reminded the Indians of the cherished values such as honesty, sacrifice, truth, and fair play that inspired their freedom struggle.
The greatest irony of this whole business is the fact that the Indians should get these lessons in renunciation from someone who was not born Indian but opted to make it her home. Welcome to the Sonia shift in Indian politics!
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