Sonia catches a train for a new platform

Sonia had surprised her aides and sent the SPG personnel into a tizzy last night when she decided to travel to Padrauna, the scene of last week’s police firing on agitating sugar mill workers, by train. The sugarcane farmers and employees of sugar mills in this region have been protesting against the non-payment of arrears by a large number of mills for many years and it’s a highly emotive issue.

“It was a conscious decision,” said a close aide of the Congress president’s decision to travel by train. Perhaps she had in mind her late husband Rajiv Gandhi’s Sadbhavna Yatra in 1990, a train journey spread across several states that put Rajiv on the comeback trail just a year after he bowed out of office.

Sonia had travelled to Allahabad by the Prayag Raj Express soon after becoming party chief in 1998 to visit Anand Bhavan, but this time as she stood in the doorway of her compartment to acknowledge the cheering by the crowds, she was trying to sense the direction of the wind. It showed a resolve to press on despite her party’s dwindling fortunes and once again put her charisma to test.

She was no longer the reclusive, flight-hopping leader but one of them. At the New Delhi railway station, the first family to be charmed by her were the Kanpur-bound Jains who couldn’t believe that she was going to travel with them. And in order to make her presence as unobtrusive as she could, she left her 10-Janpath staff behind. Travelling with her were AICC general secretary in charge of UP S K Shinde, CWC member from the state Mohsina Kidwai, AICC secretary Ramesh Chennithala, Kanpur MP S P Jaiswal and former MP Harikesh Bahadur.

And instead of seeking privacy, Sonia surprised Shinde, Mohsina and others by dropping in unannounced in their cabins to find out whether they were comfortable or not. She chatted with them for sometime and even shared the food they had brought.

Delhi had been a quite affair without any fanfare or slogan-shouting — partly because she wished it so and partly because not many knew about her last-minute decision. But in a couple of hours the message had been relayed, and when the train rolled into Aligarh at 10 p.m, the Sonia magic was at work.

Hordes of vociferous, slogan-shouting supporters had the station under siege. Sonia appeared in the doorway, smiled, waved her hand and turned to go back. The crowd went berserk. It tried to push its way into the compartment, giving the SPG a rough time and causing a near-stampede on the platform. Frustrated, some unruly supporters showed their true colours by promptly smashing several windows of the two AC compartments. Luckily, no one was hurt.

An hour later at Tundla, similar scenes were witnessed. No political speeches, just emotional bonding with the people. An old woman stepped forward with a note scribbled in Hindi for Sonia. She wanted her to get her unemployed son a job. Others congratulated her for becoming a grandmother and asked for sweets.

Said 55-year-old Jamuna Devi from Agra: “It is like homecoming for me…I saw Indiraji and Rajivji when they visited Agra by train…Soniaji should follow in their footsteps.”

Sonia had rehearsed her part well. She waited without fuss in the train’s vestibule whenever a station where a crowd was expected neared. She stayed awake most of the night; though somewhat bleary-eyed, she kept her date with her supporters at Kanpur railway station at 2 in the morning. Only Lucknow was a let-down but Sonia didn’t allow that to dampen her spirits. The tumultuous welcome at her destination, Gorakhpur, made up for that disappointment.