`If the situation continues like this, we’ll go in for elections’

Is Sonia Gandhi’s Tirupati statement a signal to BJP’s allies that she is ready to form an alternative government?

Sonia Gandhi has said that the Government is totteringand that we will be ready to fulfil our obligations as and when the situation arises.

Coming back to her statement…

I won’t go beyond what she said. We will have to watch the situation from day to day. By the time Parliament meets, we’ll probably have a clearer picture.

Do you feel the government can last?

A: My personal view is that it is now very difficult for the government to last for long. The home minister flies to Mumbai and pleads with Bal Thackeray to let the cricket match go on and he calls himself a second Sardar Patel. Sardar Patel would not have flown to Bombay. He would have sent for Thackeray.

And if this happens, would you form a government in this Lok Sabha?

During the last eight months, Sonia Gandhi has been concentrating on rejuvenating the Congress and she has had considerable success. From the April 6 Siri Fort meet to the party’s good showing in the Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh assembly elections. All this has produced a totally differentatmosphere.

Is Sonia Gandhi getting ready to take over?

She hasn’t made that statement so far.

Would you prefer to go in for elections?

I can’t really comment on that. If the situation continues like this, it is obvious that sooner or later we’ll go in for elections.

You have to contend with the virtual wipe-out of the party in four states UP, Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu which account for 220 seats. Surely revival takes time?

We have to work very hard. From all accounts things are improving. The Congress president is visiting UP next month. Our very active UPCC president, Salman Khurshid, has travelled throughout the state. And we saw in the recent assembly elections, the minorities voted for the party. Besides, the BJP’s expectations that Pokharan II would give them an electoral advantage have been belied.

Do you feel that Sonia Gandhi’s foreign antecedents will be a problem?

I don’t think so. She has lived in India since 1968 31 years more than thetime she spent in the country of her birth. She married a Hindu.

But do you consider her as a Hindu?

I see her as a very remarkable Indian.

Is she a Hindu or a Christian?

I don’t see people in terms of religion. It is a completely futile debate. A majority of Indians have accepted that she is Indian. The glossy magazines have said that her acceptance today is 37 per cent (as opposed to Vajpayee’s 27 per cent). Three months ago it was 17 per cent.

Her words about Vivekananda and the CWC’s recent resolution about Hinduism being a guarantor of secularism, have made the minorities apprehensive…

I wouldn’t attribute any motives except the purest…

Which is?

That the essential character of Hindusim is tolerance. That’s what she reiterated vasudhaiva kutumbakam and that we are not excluding anyone. Too much is being read into the CWC resolution.

Who are Sonia Gandhi’s advisers? You are seen as being close to her.

Nobody can claim an exclusivity. Sheconsults a lot of senior people in the party.

Do you feel she is modelling herself on Indira Gandhi?

She is what she is. She holds Indiraji in high esteem but the way she has led the party in the last eight months has been exemplary. International recognition has come her way.

In what way?

Whether it is the prime minister of Russia, the king of Nepal or the president of France, they all come and see her.

Is that not a violation of protocol?

In these things we cannot rigidly apply protocol. All these people used to see her husband, mother-in-law and her grandfather-in-law.

Will the Congress go it alone in the next Lok Sabha elections?

It is too premature to say. By and large, the Congress should go it alone unless there is an agreement on basics.

Is there a possibility of the Congress supporting a UF-led government in the event of the fall of the BJP government?

There is only one person who can answer that question and that is Sonia Gandhi. We willcross that bridge when we come to it.

Do you feel the Prime Minister should resign in the wake of the attack on Christians?

This is decision he must take for himself. I don’t think he is in a position to get his act together because the pressure from the VHP, the Bajrang Dal, and the RSS is very great.

What if he manages to distance himself from these organisations?

Let’s see what he does. I don’t see how he can divorce himself completely from his party, unless the BJP splits. But then he cannot continue.

In the event of a split, could the Congress consider supporting his group in this Lok Sabha?

That is very unlikely. He carries a lot of the Parivar baggage which he cannot shed at the age of 75.