Sonia side up

Sister' Priyanka wins Tamil heartsIt is odd how the most unlikliest of places springs a political surprise. In poor and undernourished Srip...

Sister8217; Priyanka wins Tamil hearts

It is odd how the most unlikliest of places springs a political surprise. In poor and undernourished Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, was born probably the most picturesque duo in the country8217;s politics today: Sonia Gandhi in a spanking new green silk saree and Priyanka in a sober saffron-pink. The sheer elan and poise with which both carried themselves had the gathering gasping in admiration. Rajiv Gandhi is a very well-remembered name in this part of the country. And every time you see Priyanka and Sonia on a dais, the memory of his assassination comes back strongly. Priyanka has the edge over Sonia. She has the best looks of Rajiv, Sonia and Indira and has no trace of a foreign accent to boot. Her only sentence, in Tamil, had everybody swearing allegiance to 8220;sister Priyanka8221;.

It8217;s Madam all the way

Poor Sitaram Kesri. Though he spares no effort to say he was the man behind the virtual coup of drafting the Sonia-Priyanka combination, nobody takes him seriously. His picture was conspicuously missing from every single poster, banner or cut-out in the personality-mad Chennai. It was Sonia all the way. However, Kesri did make an entry at the site of the public meeting in Sriperumbudur. His cut-out was the eight in a series of nine erected by the rump Congress. Kamaraj, Indira Gandhi, Maulana Azad, Mahatma Gandhi a noticeably small one, Sonia Gandhi the biggest by a few metres, Rajiv, Nehru, Kesri and Bhim Rao Ambedkar in that order of appearance. Also, a solitary Congress worker was going around in a T-shirt saying 8220;Long Live Sitaram Kesri8221; across it.

Kesri days are gone

Staying with Kesri for a while, it does seem that his days as party president appear to be numbered. Hardly anyone thinks of him and even his ardent follower, Tamil Nadu PCC president K V Thangkabalu, thinks he is better off ignoring Kesri. Basking in rare limelight on Sunday, Thangkabalu made the most of the opportunity. He declared that Sonia Gandhi would be Prime Minister in two months time and that he was placing his head, and pride, at her feet. Curiously, he drew maximum applause for this public show of obesiance with the gathering egging on Sonia as PM. It was a performance that would have made Rajiv proud of his family and Sonia8217;s entourage feels she can only improve with each meeting. Not a happy thought for the BJP.

TMC8217;s vanishing act

One unplanned fallout of Sonia8217;s Chennai stay was the vanishing act performed by the Tamil Maanila Congress TMC leaders. The party, headed by lifelong Rajiv loyalist G K Moopanar, is in the midst of a dilemma caused by Sonia8217;s entry into active politics. They can8217;t oppose her nor can they dump Karunanidhi. So when the lady came calling, Moopanar and his band of leaders just vanished from Chennai. Last heard, nobody was in the city and were slated to return after a 8220;few days8221;. Local grapevine is that Moopanar was keen to avoid a possible meeting between him and Sonia. Courtesy would have demanded that he at least visit her and that is precisely what he didn8217;t want. People here remember that it was Moopanar and Jayanthi Natarajan who were gaping at Rajiv8217;s body in shock a few moments after he was assassinated. Currently, though, the TMC motto seems to be 8220;out of sight, out of mind8221;.