How Sonia Swung it

So is it fair for Sonia to take, or at least be given, all the credit? Are slogans such as 8220;Desh ki aandhi, Sonia Gandhi8221;, likening her mass appeal to that of her formidable mother-in-law, indicative of a misplaced sycophancy?

Not quite. Sonia Gandhi may not have won her party the numbers Indira or Rajiv did, but in many ways her achievement is more remarkable. She is the only member of the celebrated Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, indeed the only Congress leader ever, to take over the reins of the Grand Old Party when it was comatose and then resuscitate it.

Jawaharlal Nehru had been a hero of the national movement and was anointed by Mahatma Gandhi himself. Indira was Congress president when her father was still prime minister and did a stint in Lal Bahadur Shastri8217;s cabinet.

Rajiv got power on a platter as it were, riding on the 1984 8216;8216;sympathy wave8217;8217; to an unprecedented 400-plus seats. Whether he would have returned to power in 1991 remains an open question, but the results of the first phase of the May 1991 polls 8212; held before his assassination on May 21 8212; indicate it might have been difficult.

Barring 1980, when Indira returned to office, this is the first time the party has clawed its way back to power. But in 1980, Indira had been out of office for less than three years and the Congress remained the largest political outfit in the country. Added to that was the squabbling Janata parivar.

Journey up from ground zero
IT has been an entirely different trajectory for Sonia. When she became party president in 1998, the Congress had been decimated, its famed all-India structure 8216;8216;You can find a Congress office in every village8217;8217; in tatters.

Sonia had refused the offer to lead the party in the immediate aftermath of Rajiv8217;s assassination in 1991. But that refusal, it was soon made clear, did not mean an aversion to politics. Many found her desire for power without responsibility irksome and felt she should make up her mind: was she Corazon Aquino or Jacqueline Kennedy?

In 1998, she finally took the plunge and campaigned for the party in the Lok Sabha election but failed to save it. That failure seemed to have spurred her on; the hurly burly of electioneering awakened her desire to take up politics full time.

Once she made up her mind, Congressmen did not take too long to make her the party president. When the Atal Behari Vajpayee government fell by one vote in early 1999, Sonia 8212; not a member of Parliament then 8212; made her infamous claim 8216;8216;We have 2728217;8217; but didn8217;t get the support of Mulayam Singh Yadav. She won the Lok Sabha elections later in the year from both Bellary and Amethi, but the Congress party8217;s tally dipped to its lowest level ever.

When she began her innings as leader of the opposition in 1999, therefore, the odds were stacked against her. She had failed to arrest the party8217;s decline, she was a poor and hesitant speaker and she remained surrounded by a coterie.

But one thing was clear even then 8212; Sonia was no quitter. The sustained attack on her foreign origin, the periodic outbursts by Samata Dal MPs in the Lok Sabha about her family8217;s role in 8216;8216;antique smuggling8217;8217;, and whispers about her failure as a leader failed to unnerve her.

Slowly she gathered more confidence and set about revamping the party.

Go left, find the 8216;idea of India8217;
The first taste of success came with a string of victories in assembly elections. Before the debacle of December 2003, the Congress ruled as many as 15 states and the BJP merely two. And though critics attributed the success to regional leaders, Sonia took the initiative to hold 8216;8216;chief ministers8217; conclaves8217;8217; 8212; NGO-style stock taking exercises on development and governance.

She also tried to galvanise the party8217;s moribund grassroots structure through initiatives such as the block presidents8217; and DCC chiefs8217; meets in 2003. That is when the party coined the 8220;Congress ke haath, garib ke saath8221; slogan, and signalled the party was trying to revive its secular, left-of-centre legacy.

The Shimla conclave in July 2003 was a turning point. The Congress finally gave up its disdain for coalition politics and admitted that the support of 8216;8216;secular forces8217;8217; was necessary in the battle to defeat the BJP.

Sonia8217;s opening speech at the conclave was also remarkable for spelling out a clear ideological vision 8212; she spoke of the 8216;8216;idea of India8217;8217; and how important was the pluralist, inclusive, and secular ethos.

But nothing much happened after that. It was only the shock of the December elections, when the Congress received a drubbing in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chattisgarh, that made Sonia active.

The December verdict, in retrospect, was the best thing to have happened to the party. On one hand, it made the BJP leadership overconfident; on the other, it pushed Sonia to shed her reserve and strike alliances.

Playing the humble charmer

If Sonia is the object of Congress adulation today it is because she almost single-handedly 8212; with a bit of help from her children at the fag end 8212; charted out the party8217;s 2004 campaign.

It all began with her December 28, 2003, speech in Mumbai when she said 8216;8216;the people8217;8217; would decide the leader of the secular alliance. It was a welcome signal to potential allies that she was not imposing her leadership, and the decision depended on the numbers after the elections.

She followed that up by going on a 8216;8216;making friends and gathering allies8217;8217; spree. She walked across to Ram Vilas Paswan8217;s residence next door, and an overwhelmed Paswan soon became the standard-bearer of the 8216;8216;Sonia for PM8217;8217; campaign.

She called up DMK chief M. Karunanidhi in Chennai 8212; the man her party had once accused of a role in her husband8217;s assassination 8212; and sewed up the crucial Democratic Progressive Alliance. She went across to meet Sharad Pawar, the man who had walked out of the party over her Italian ancestry, and sealed another important tie-up.

Her meetings with Mulayam, birthday greeting to Mayawati and talks with Ajit Singh may have failed on the alliance front, but had a significance of their own. They underlined her sincere efforts at coalition-making. More important, she managed to establish a personal rapport with leaders who were otherwise hostile to the Congress and uncomfortable with her foreign origins.

One woman versus a phalanx
Alliance-making apart, Sonia set a crushing pace and was practically the sole campaigner for the Congress. Long before L.K. Advani embarked on his Bharat Uday Yatra, she went on a series of jan sampark abhiyans. Those roadshows played an important role in her subsequent campaign. The turnout of large and enthusiastic crowds bolstered her confidence.

It also gave her a first-hand glimpse into unshining India. In her frequent interactions with the press post-December 2003, Sonia repeatedly said farmers8217; distress and unemployment were the two key issues in the election.

She also spoke of the 8216;8216;scams8217;8217; of the NDA government and the importance of a secular India. But the focus remained on the 8220;aam aadmi8221;.

Sonia8217;s biggest achievement, however, was her success in repackaging herself as a latter-day Indira. That Indira is her role model is no secret. She has tried to copy her gait and style, but this time she also succeeded in tapping into the nostalgia for the 8220;garibi hatao8221; days that is remembered so fondly by unexpectedly large masses of people across India.

Today8217;s won. But lady, tomorrow never dies

But her real challenge lies ahead. Unlike her mother-in-law, she is not a politician by instinct. Partymen say she is more democratic, more cautious, more of a consensus seeker than either Indira or Rajiv.

That may have been a result of circumstance. Now that she is set to take on the most important job in the country, her leadership skills will be tested as never before. Leading a submissive party in opposition is entirely different from running a left-backed coalition government in the post-liberalisation era.

And even if the Indian people have given her a mandate of sorts, the foreign origin issue is not going to go away. The BJP8217;s moderate face is certain to melt once in opposition. There are elements who have a pathological dislike for Sonia and will never reconcile to a 8216;8216;foreigner8217;8217; ruling India. Narendra Modi and Sushma Swaraj are only the most vocal among them.

For vitriolic critics such as Jaya Jaitley, Sonia Gandhi is driven solely by a desire for power. The past few years have shown that it is a lot more complex than that. The apolitical lass from Italy is imbued with a manifest sense of destiny, a conviction that the family she married into is the only true trustee of not just the Indian National Congress but of the idea and entity of India. The people of India, in turn, have accepted her as their own.

But the Indian electorate, as we all know, can be equally ruthless. If the next government fails to complete its term, if anything goes wrong on any front in the coming years, that defeat will be no orphan. Its mother too will be a lady called Sonia Gandhi.

Listen, and then do your own thing

It was said of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru that he impressed his persona on a whole nation. It was said of India Gandhi that she was seldom impressed. It was said of Rajiv Gandhi that he was remarkably impressionable. What are the impressions of Sonia Gandhi, India8217;s soon-to-be prime minister?

What sort of a chief executive should India expect Sonia to be? What sort of a political manager is she? Does she decentralise? Is she a control freak? What attributes has she borrowed from her mother-in-law; which ones has she picked up from her husband?

Jairam Ramesh, the Congress8217; election strategist and somebody who has worked closely with Sonia in recent times, says, 8216;8216;Her husband and mother-in-law were instinctive. She is more cautious 8230; She is a consensus seeker.8217;8217;

Virtue is sometimes no more than a product of circumstance. Indira grew up in a nasty and brutish political landscape. Once she8217;d established herself, she trusted no one, followed her own counsel.

Rajiv had the crown handed to him. His semi-colon was his party8217;s command, even if he didn8217;t necessarily intend it so. In both cases, it may have generated an 8216;8216;I know best8217;8217; attitude.

Sonia began as a political novice. Perforce she had to turn to others for counsel. Her maturity is, really, a product of being able to listen to more and more people, more and more points of view and then arriving at what she believes is a commonsensical position.

Congress leaders, delightfully vague in the best traditions of the party, insist Sonia arrives at decisions on economic policy 8212; and took decisions on political alliances in the recent election 8212; after an elaborate process of consultation. After hearing a voices, she retired to her privacy, made up her own mind, or probably had her children help her do so.

In the poll campaign in the past few months, Sonia8217;s strategic intervention, her aides say, came when she junked what Ramesh called the 8216;8216;FiFo 8212; fly in, fly out8217;8217; method of addressing public meetings with a more personal, jan sampark driven roadshow.

Since all wisdom eventually flows from the leader, the change in the party8217;s appeal 8212; from garib aadmi to a middle class encompassing aam aadmi 8212; is also being credited to her.

Whatever the truth, Sonia clearly has more political savvy today than she did in 1998. A heightened degree of confidence in meeting journalists and interacting with other political leaders has replaced a reclusive nature.

While it is anybody8217;s guess what she8217;ll be like as prime minister, there are three facets to the new Sonia that party colleagues urge you to watch out for.

One, like Atal Behari Vajpayee she has an ability to delegate. 8216;8216;My guess is,8217;8217; says one senior Congressman, 8216;8216;that she8217;ll choose the right person for the right job in the cabinet, after much deliberation. And then give him space 8230; There will be no square pegs in round holes.8217;8217;

Two, the lady have developed an eye for detail. She spends hours on her speeches. Before the India Today Conclave earlier this year, her speech took her a collective 10 hours of preparation, it is said, over many rounds of discussions with her speechwriter and gathering of inputs from a whole host of sources.

This again is a trait the new Mrs G has imbibed from the old Mrs G. Indira is known to have taken her speeches very seriously, agonised over thoughts and phrases with her favourite scriptwriter, the venerable H.Y. harada Prasad.

Finally, don8217;t expect an overwhelming focus on the government at the cost of the party. The lady is conscious of the fact that the Congress has only half-recovered and that the real battle with the BJP will be for the 15th Lok Sabha, in five years or maybe even two or three.

8216;8216;Much talent may migrate to the government; some of it will stay put at the AICC HQ,8217;8217; goes a Sonia watcher8217;s signing off line. If Rahul and Priyanka plan a political career, their mother8217;s acutely aware that they8217;ll need a vibrant organisation to keep them company.

Ashok Malik

Decalogue, Congress style

Ten initiatives Sonia and her party took to snatch the 2004 election from the BJP-led NDA

1 Post-1999 defeat, she focused on the states. Till december 2003, Congress ruled 15 states, was a going concern again.

2 Organised chief ministerial conclaves, internal brainstorming meets. It gave the party energy and that busy feeling.

3 At Shimla in 2003 made an ideological statement, highlighting the pluralistic, inclusive and secular 8216;idea of India8217;. An ideas-free party now had a defined core of principles

4 Woke up after the December assembly poll defeats. Went about wooing regional allies, from DMK to Paswan. Mulayam and Mayawati approached too.

5 All along maintained the focus on the common man, the aam aadmi. As BJP harped on India Shining, her focus on was on the unshining India.

6 Sought to recapture the Congress8217; traditional left-of-centre position, spoke of farmers8217; issues jobless growth.

7 Her jan sampark abhiyan roadshows were innovative. Preceded even L.K. Advani8217;s Bharat Uday Yatra.

8 Played the nostalgia card. Was Indira reborn, same sari, same gait, same pro-poor lines.

9 Won over fence sitters by insisting prime minister would be decided only by post-poll numbers within alliance.

10 Rahul8217;s entry indicated family8217;s longterm commitment.