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Sonia strikes a chord with Kerala voters

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

Congress president Sonia Gandhi's one-day whirlwind tour of Kerala on Tuesday has left the campaign managers of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front happy as she didn't target the Left for criticism.

All she had to say about the ruling dispensation in the course of her speeches in Kannur, Kozhikode, Thodupuzha, Tiruvalla and Thiruvananthapuram related to the implementation of panchayati raj. The Nayanar government has been taking great pride in the implementation of panchayat raj, originally envisioned by her husband Rajiv Gandhi, saying it was the only state in India to effect decentralisation in a meaningful way.

The CPI-M claims the mass-participation programmes it has initiated in the state as a way of carrying forward the decentralisation process has won it international acclaim. Though the party admits to minor aberrations in the campaign, it feels these can be overcome in the course of implementation.

It maintains that aberrations pointed out by the Congress were unavoidable in a massive campaign of this sort. The Congress president's charge was that the beneficiaries of the decentralisation attempted by the LDF government were the CPI-M cadres and not the people. The Marxists obviously see her remarks as an echo of the allegations her colleagues in the state have levelled against the government with an eye on the election.

Congress circles are apparently disappointed as Sonia has missed an opportunity to give a boost to the party's anti-CPI-M campaign. Congress leaders feel that Sonia's decision to spare the LDF could be construed as a deliberate attempt to placate the Left parties, whose support she might need to form a government at the Centre after the election.

This could put the party at a disadvantage in the state as already there is a feeling among the electorate that the contest between the two traditional rivals is more or less friendly.

State Congress leaders are trying to explain away the ''lapse'' saying that as a national leader Sonia had to focus her attacks on the party's main rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party. State Congress president Thennala Balakrishna Pillai said there was no ground for the Congress to feel embarrassed since it was CPI-M general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet who was arguing for a Congress-led government at the Centre.

Sonia's overall performance in the campaigning has been impressive compared to 1998. She appeared more confident this time and proved successful in striking a chord with the people in her speeches.

Sonia revealed an understanding of the specific problems of the state when she stressed the need for tackling various issues in agriculture and the industrial sector to accelerate development in the state.

The Congress president was aggressive in attacking the BJP. She touched on various scams during the Vajpayee government besides highlighting the dangers posed by the BJP to the secular fabric of the country. She alleged that the BJP had a hidden agenda which would spell disaster to the country.

How far her campaign would help in consolidating the minority votes in favour of the Congress remains to be seen. The Christian and Muslim community leaders have been feeling aggrieved with the Congress for selecting fewer nominees from their communities. A Catholic conference in Kottayam had expressed its displeasure with the Congress in unambiguous terms.

Sonia's attempt was to highlight the threat posed to the minorities by the Sangh Parivar. She talked about the a hidden agenda of the BJP in her rallies in Muslim-dominated Kannur and Kozhikode and Christian-dominated Thodupuzha and Tiruvalla. Her visit has galvanised the party organisation which is bound to reflect in the two days' campaigning that is left.

The Congress president was strident in her attack against the BJP in Thiruvananthapuram where senior party leader O Rajagopal has gained ground in the fray. She said she had documents to prove that the higher-ups in the Vajpayee government had benefited from the sugar deal with Pakistan.

Sonia also presented a brave face regarding the personal attacks on her by the BJP. "My political adversaries have started attacking me personally. But I am undeterred by what they do or say. I am not going to be cowed down by the BJP/RSS propaganda against me," she told the rally in Thiruvananthapuram.

Finally, she took the fight to the BJP camp saying, "we will not allow the Sangh Parivar to divide our people. We will sacrifice our lives to safeguard secularism."

The Congress president proved she is a crowd-puller in Kerala. Her rallies had a good attendance though she was three to five hours behind schedule. In Thiruvananthapuram, she had a larger audience than L K Advani the previous day.

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