Sonia party

Sonia Gandhi has merely exercised her right as an Indian citizen when she joined the Congress as a primary member. Her Italian ancestry is ...

May 10, 1997 12:00 AM IST

4 min read

Sonia Gandhi has merely exercised her right as an Indian citizen when she joined the Congress as a primary member. Her Italian ancestry is not germane to the issue and few would, therefore, find fault with her on this. However, the plunge she has taken gives a lie to her claim that party politics has not been her cup of tea. Whether the primary membership is a step to bigger posts in the Congress or not, she will, perforce, have to shed the image of an apolitical person that she had all along cultivated for herself. Along with the privileges that a member of the Congress enjoys, she also inherits the obligations that go with it. In a way, the decision is welcome as it legitimises her role in the Congress, which has been extra-constitutional so far. Hereafter, she will not be able to pull the strings from behind the scene as she will be increasingly under public glare. In retrospect, her much-touted renunciation of the leadership of the Congress that was presented to her on a platter soon after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was nothing but a cold, calculated image-building exercise. Obviously, she had been marking time to make a grand entry into politics.

It is a measure of the bankruptcy of the century-old Congress that it has gone ga-ga about Sonia Gandhi8217;s enrollment as a member. It is the height of sycophancy when one of the Congress leaders says unabashedly that she is worth more than all the AICC members put together. It also speaks volumes for the state of the party that its leaders pin all their hopes of rejuvenating the moribund organisation on an attempt to revive the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. It is amazing that the party is not able to think of any other way to win back popular support and regain the party8217;s pre-eminence save tying the Congress to her apron strings. The euphoric reaction within the Congress cannot but dishearten all those who sincerely hoped for the restoration of its democratic credentials after it had freed itself of the burden of dynasty. If, even during the last seven years, many Congressmen turned to her abode at 10, Janpath, they presumed that it was more out of habit than necessity. How fallacious they have been is proved by the turn of events.

While it is for Sonia Gandhi to upgrade her status from a primary member to an active member in order to get elected to any party post of her choice, it may be premature to conclude that she has indeed made a foray into active politics. It is not difficult to discern a pattern in all that she does and says. Whenever she felt threatened, she made some noise as for, instance, when she made a visit to Amethi and read out a speech in Hindi warning the government against going slow with the inquiry into her husband8217;s assassination. It does not stand to logic that she would forsake power without responsibility, which she has enjoyed thus far, for the rough and tumble of politics. Perhaps, the ongoing CBI investigation into the Bofors deal might have something to do with her decision. Whatever be her compulsion, if the Congress leaders really believe that she can pull the party out of the morass into which it has sunk, they are sadly mistaken. Neither the polity nor the dynasty that she is supposed to represent is any longer what it used to be. She will soon realise that the days of such anachronisms are all over.

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