KOCHI, Feb 6: The approaching Lok Sabha elections will decide whether India shall remain a secular democratic republic or disintegrate like the Soviet Union. A vote for the BJP will be a vote for disintegration, says Congress Working Committee (CWC) member A K Antony.In an interview to The Indian Express, Antony said that with the United Front lacking cohesion and reducing itself into a regional outfit, the Congress is the only credible political force against the BJP. The Congress is engaged in a ``Kurukshetra war'' with the BJP whose ascent will mark the beginning of the end of India as a pluralistic society - multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic. The BJP manifesto leaves no one in doubt about its aims and objectives.Yet, Antony does not visualise his party single-handedly mobilising the benchmark seats to form the next government at the Centre. The post-poll reality would bring together parties opposed to the BJP, and the Congress will form the government, with support fromother parties. The Congress would not repeat the mistake of extending support from outside and promoting its own irrelevance.Sonia Gandhi has saved the day for the Congress, he said. Her active campaigning, a new sense of unity and the poll manifesto would help the Congress to emerge as the single largest party, perhaps falling short of an absolute majority in Parliament.Sonia generates enthusiasm among the masses. She symbolises the heroic contribution of the Nehru-Gandhi family to the nation. She attracts more youths, tribals and women in addition to the traditional pro-Congress sections. The charge of `foreigner' against Sonia would not wash. She adopted India as her country 30 years ago. The crowds that throng her meetings are proof of her acceptance. As a political being, Sonia has remained objective and independent, showing that nobody can push her to a decision. Nobody can accuse her of being an opportunist. If she wanted she could have yielded to persuasions and taken over the party when thegoing was good. Instead, she plunged into party work at a time when the Congress was faced with its worst crisis.Developments in the past few months have shown that other parties are incapable of providing stability, Antony said. Had it not been for the Nehruvian economic policies and their modern adaptation, the country would have gone the way of the rest of the south-east Asian countries.
