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| With Olympics, Rahul goes global | | | New Delhi | Aug 9
As the Indian contingent stepped into view in the overflowing Bird's Nest stadium on Friday, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi stood up to spiritedly wave to Indian sportspersons.
A day before, she had stepped back to let son Rahul take centrestage by signing an MoU with the Communist Party of China.
The two pictures from the Olympics are seen as loaded with political message, with Congress organization gaining the foreground and the government receding from visibility amid approaching election season.
As a party leader said, if Beijing Olympics is the biggest stage attracting maximum eyeballs, then the Sonia-Rahul duo, who will lead the party's poll charge, is firmly in focus.
The leadership position was with Sonia, being the national representative in a communist country which is seen as a sensitive issue after Left walked out of the UPA arrangement over nuclear deal. That it's the second Gandhi family visit to China in recent months is no coincidence.
It may not have been scripted to a political end, with the Congress chief merely picking up an invitation from a neighbouring country for the sports gathering, which countries use to forge relationships.
But the picture of Sonia waving to the Indian contingent, in many views, is of political import, given the context of international sports which conflates national identity with that of the individual like few other activities.
If the "foreign origin" issue was already in the background, post-Friday, it is sure to have been buried several fathoms deep.
It has been incremental, but Rahul signing a document with the Chinese ruling party, with pages being turned by junior foreign minister Anand Sharma, is part of his grooming for the leadership role. A Congress spokesperson did underline that the development was not without a message.
The heir-apparent was consecrated as a factor in power play last year with a position in the AICC hierarchy and has since eased into "authority". The surest sign came last month when he led the charge for the vexed nuclear deal, telling a conservatives-packed Congress Working Committee that it was good enough to gamble the government on.
Congress is now speaking in a united voice on the pact, the tough victory in the trust vote on July 22 having vindicated Rahul's viewpoint.
But pushing Rahul on the biggest international stage seems part of a plan to add to his leadership profile, much beyond his earlier foreign assignments like to the UN.
If the Gandhi family meeting the scions of the Bhutto family of Pakistan on Friday is a coincidence, it also adds to the value of Olympics as political springboard. |
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