Sonia146;s bad luck

Congressmen call it bad luck. Each time party president Sonia Gandhi is scheduled for a foreign visit, more often than not there is some major political crisis back home. Last October when she along with son and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka Prithviraj Chavan went on a five-day visit to China, Karnataka was under President8217;s rule and the BJP and JDS were holding parleys. Again, even as Jammu is on the boil over the Amarnath shrine land issue, the Congress president had to go to China on the invitation of the Communist Party of China CPC for the inaugural ceremony of the Olympics. She could probably not have avoided the visit given the crucial role China has at the Nuclear Suppliers8217; Group in getting the exemption that could make or break the Indo-US nuclear deal. Incidentally, her absence from the scene may have delayed an impending crisis in Maharashtra as Revenue Minister Narayan Rane is waiting for her return before taking a final decision about staying in or leaving the party.