NEW DELHI, NOV 28: It's where political pilgrimages of most Congress leaders end - a cramped little office, its walls lined with photographs of Rajiv Gandhi. It has a door that opens to Sonia Gandhi's spacious study, but chances are, four times out of five, the pilgrims will return talking to the man who runs that small office and who they think knows what Sonia's silence means.Sonia is the fourth member of the Gandhi family with whom Vincent George has worked - he has served Indira Gandhi, Rajiv and Sanjay for a short while. George migrated to Delhi from Kerala in 1975, looking for a secretarial job, and landed one at the All India Congress Committee office. He joined Indira Gandhi's secretariat when she returned to power in 1980, but was soon picked by Rajiv for his own office when the former prime minister contested from Amethi. Since then, till Rajiv's death, George was like his shadow, quiet, inscrutable but fast becoming politically savvy. After Rajiv's death, George has handled the affairs of Sonia Gandhi, whose aversion for politics deepened sharply after Sriperumbudur.There were reports that P V Narasimha Rao offered George a post in the PMO but he turned it down. Curiously enough, within months, George had himself turned against Rao. Reason: he blamed the then prime minister for denying him a Rajya Sabha seat.George, perhaps, realised early enough that political oblivion for Sonia would mean he would be relegated to handling the files of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. He is thus believed to have an abiding interest in Sonia joining politics and may even be diffidently working towards it. While his strength lies in the personal equation he by now has with Congress leaders of all hues, he is said to be closest to the Arjun Singh camp and had thus taken an ``active'' interest in the formation of the Congress (T).Besides, like any other party leader and worker, George also views some of Sonia's decisions, like her expression of angst over handling of the assassination case in Amethi in end-1995, as well as her more recent move to become a primary member of the party, as a step in the right direction.But does George really know Sonia's mind? If not, can he at least read the mind of the Sphinx? Much of the importance of Vincent George depends on the answer to this question but, Sonia's closest aide, too, has been forced to bide time behind the iron curtain which separates her from the rest of the world.But he is always around, working from early morning to late into the night, ferreting information and press reports, constantly collecting feedback from politicians and passing it in. He is known not to block access because of his personal likes and dislikes but is someone who is very much part of the process of assimilation and education of Sonia Gandhi.However, frequent visitors to 10, Janpath say that over the years, George's subdued, shadowy style of operation has been replaced with a more personalised, direct approach. After Rajiv died, George would refer to ``Madam'' in hushed tones and simply not entertain suggestions of a political role for her. These days, when the Jain Commission issue has rocked the United Front Government, George has been frequently dropping lines like ``We feel justice has not been done.'' or ``Wecertainly do not feel the DMK issue is a minor one..''.As many senior party leaders who have returned after an ``appointment'' at 10, Janpath may tell you, George has been quite forthright, even anxious to ensure that the ``view'' of the household gets across to the visitors who may not have met Sonia. Some have also been told about how deeply hurt she is with the tenor of some press reports which have lambasted the Jain Commission. Thus, even as the precise assurance given by Sonia Gandhi to Sitaram Kesri and Arjun Singh about her role in the next election campaign remains a subject of controversy, 10 Janpath is being credited with the following opinion: that Sonia has no role to play in the current crisis; that the subject of her joining politics and the Jain Commission imbroglio are unconnected; and that the indictment of the DMK in the interim report should also be seen in isolation from future indictments which may come with Jain Commission's final report.The question, however, is: Whose view is it? Is it really Sonia's or is it what George will have the world believe? There is no way of cross-checking it. And that's Vincent George's USP.
