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The Sonia conundrum unravels itself

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

When Sonia Gandhi was debating whether she should take the plunge and offer herself as prime minister, some non-political friends warned her against it. They pointed out the dangers of heading a coalition and that as prime minister, she would be the target of the Opposition's attack.

Despite the well-meaning advice, Sonia took the plunge. And her actions over the past few days have done much to change her carefully cultivated image of the past few years. So far, Sonia was always seen as a reluctant politician, a bit like her late husband Rajiv Gandhi who agreed to take up politics only after his younger and politically-active brother Sanjay Gandhi died in an air crash. But now, more and more voices are heard about her 'indecent haste' and 'greed to become prime minister'.

Many had hailed Sonia Gandhi when she refused to head the Congress party or become prime minister after Rajiv was assassinated in May 1991, thus paving the way for P V Narasimha Rao to head the government. However, the experience was not a very happy one. Initially, life was a bed of roses. Rao always deferred to her, and Sonia was able to enjoy all the privileges of life without exercising any responsibility. To keep herself and the family name alive, she set up the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation with herself as chairperson and which was given a grant of Rs 1 billion by the government. However, Rao was slowly distancing himself from Sonia and today, many believe that it was the fear of being reduced to another well-off housewife in Delhi that forced Sonia Gandhi to become politically active.

She campaigned for the party in 1998, by which time Rao was no longer party president, and then displaced Sitaram Kesri as party president in March of the same year. Here again, Sonia refused to be part of any toppling game, which once again enhanced her image. The view of the Congress as a power hungry party was at least being put under control. Until a few days ago.

What, however, caused Sonia's image to plummet was her initial demand for a Congress government supported by others. Congress sources said some leaders had warned her that such a move would not go down well with the other parties. After all, it was the combined Opposition vote that brought down the Vajpayee government, that too by just a single vote. Second, much of the effort to bring down the government was taken by Jayalalitha and Subramanian Swamy, the Congress was only playing along.

The image of others doing the dirty work and the Congress under Sonia wanting to pick up the pieces has shocked most other leaders, though none save the Samajwadi Party has openly spoken about it.

She had confidently stated that she will bring letters of support from 272 members of the Lok Sabha. Yet, as the SP's Amar Singh pointed out, she had not even consulted his party leadership when she made that statement. Earlier, other parties had complained of her high-handed behaviour and her eagerness to become prime minister. "The only good thing is that her mask of not being interested in becoming the PM is off," said an Opposition leader gleefully.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is stepping up the attack against Sonia on two fronts: her origin and her alleged links to the Bofors case. For the past year, Congress workers have been insisting that Indian culture treats every daughter-in-law as part of the household, regardless of her origin. To that, a BJP worker countered, "Sasural mein kitne bhi varsh rahe, magar ek bahu hamesha apne maike se jyada pyar karti hain (No matter how many years a woman lives with her in-laws, she always loves her own parents more)."

This may well become the BJP's line of attack, covertly if not overtly. Already, articles about Sonia Gandhi's indecent haste have appeared in the media and these are likely to increase. Certainly, to now say she never desired office will be difficult.

It seems that for the first time some Congress members are worried about the political fallout of having a foreigner as prime minister. The feeling is that Congressmen and women had not really thought about the implication of having her as prime minister. Most party workers and leaders saw in her a chance of winning the elections and regaining lost ground. Many even believed that she would anoint her nominee as prime minister. Yet, with her now poised to assume the mantle, there is just some uneasiness, though all very sotto voce.

"Right now, no one dares challenge her, but we really wonder whether future generations will ever forgive us," said a Congress leader. The fear is that if she delivers, all will be forgiven, but if she makes even half a mistake, there will be a furore. This leader even admitted that should the sentiment that she is not patriotic enough grow in the country, they are likely to replace her using the standard line that it was in the national interest and before the Opposition benefits from it.

Thus, her every action will be under a microscope. Any hint of being soft on the West, and she will be taken apart. In such a scenario, it will be virtually impossible that India will sign many of the international treaties coming up, besides legislate on insurance and patents, bills that many parties allege compromise India's sovereignty. That in turn might affect her ability to govern. The BJP is also rating to go at her in Parliament where, as one leader promised, "She will be without her aides and we will question her thoroughly."

"If there is one person who is actually happy at Sonia Gandhi becoming prime minister, it is Sharad Pawar. He is all too aware of the difficulties ahead and that every mistake will be magnified. Her image is bound to take a battering just as Rajiv Gandhi's image turned from Mr Clean to Mr Suspect in the Bofors case," said a Congress source. The pressure on Sonia Gandhi will, thus, be more than it will be on anyone else, even Jyoti Basu.

A question being asked is, given these pitfalls why did Sonia Gandhi agree to become prime minister? One suggestion floating around is that if she does become prime minister, even if only for a few weeks, she is taken care of for life. Today, there are five former prime ministers, not counting Vajpayee, who are assured certain perks and privileges for life, including a huge bungalow in Delhi, vehicles, security guards, and a pension.

As wife of a former prime minister, Sonia will always remain worried over a future government continuing the privileges she enjoys today, including her residence at 10 Janpath. No other widow of a former prime minister ever enjoyed such luxury, and it was only due to the absence of a strong non-Congress government that these privileges were never questioned. However, as a former prime minister, Sonia Gandhi will be, in all fairness, entitled to whatever other ex-prime ministers are, without question.

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