Many seem surprised at the recent ‘amazing’ turn of events when Sonia Gandhi “renounced” the most powerful office in the country. It surprises me somewhat that they are so surprised. The broad contours of such a development have been on predictable lines. Let me tell you why. My mind goes back especially to two situations. I met Sonia Gandhi a few days after she recommended to the president that clemency be granted to Nalini, sentenced to death in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. She was concerned that Nalini’s little daughter, born to her while in prison, would be orphaned if she were executed. It was clear that she cared about the child. She was also keen that this was not publicised. When I asked her why her upholding the value of forgiveness should not be shared with the people, she answered that for her it was a deeply personal matter. The second episode was more recent. In August 2003, Sonia Gandhi was to deliver the keynote address at the inauguration of a multi-religious movement for secular values. I briefed her on the programme. Always an attentive listener, she listened to all I had to say. As I was about to leave, she told me that she would not like her praises to be sung on the occasion. The focus must be on the cause that was being addressed. Not altogether a stranger to politicians, as well as religious leaders, I found this approach refreshing. In the several conversations I have had with her, two concerns stood out consistently. First, her passionate commitment to India’s secular destiny. She is deeply worried about the divisive implications of communalism. Given her patriotism, I would have been surprised if she had not made the sacrifice she now has made in the interest of the country. The other aspect of her personality is a sincere commitment to the underprivileged. I am not surprised at the media cynicism that lingered for nearly two days, about the genuineness of Sonia’s reluctance to be prime minister. The word “drama” dominated journalistic jargon for this period. Can we blame our telecasters? Have they ever seen anything like this before? After constant exposure to the shady world of politics, could they have believed that someone would genuinely not want to be a PM? This, too, attests to the value of what Sonia has done. She has affirmed the relevance of values and principles in our political culture. Of course, it does not surprise me that to Sushma Swaraj and Uma Bharati the prospect of Sonia Gandhi becoming prime minister is insufferable. Nor am I surprised at the manner of Sushma Swaraj’s threatened protest. She would live like a Hindu widow till Sonia was unseated. As Swami Agnivesh put it, Swaraj appears out to legitimise stereotypes about women, invented by men to oppress them and prolong their misery. There are two things about Sonia Gandhi. First, she is of Italian origin. Second, she is as much an Indian citizen as Sushma Swaraj and Uma Bharati are. It is significant that to them Indian citizenship does not matter. All that matters is the Italian origin. Finally, I am not surprised at Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s deafening silence all through this contrived crisis. When Vajpayee ascended the prime ministerial chair I had hoped that he would rise above the level of low-level politics and grow into a statesman. His response to the Gujarat riots disappointed me. Along with a few others I met him three days into the riots. He sat utterly unconcerned; worried only that the media was bringing a bad name to his party by reporting the riots. We urged him to break his silence and order this dance of death to stop. He chose to keep quiet at that juncture. Later he did make some politically correct statements of studied ambiguity, but it was too little, too late. So it did not surprise me one bit that this man of eloquence had nothing to say when the likes of Swaraj and Govindacharya were making a public display of their contempt for the Constitution and democratic proprieties. And this, after personally acknowledging the exemplary way in which Sonia Gandhi had conducted herself as the Leader of the Opposition. The ultimate irony is that those who had rubbished Sonia as a “reader”, not a “leader”, have failed to ‘read’ her right. One advantage in being a good reader is that you read the situation right, which also helps in listening to the “inner voice”, as the Mahatma has taught us to do.
