SONIA LEADS CONGRESS DEFENCE
The Prime Minister’s declining graph and Rahul’s reticence have forced the party chief to play a more proactive role
Suddenly, Sonia Gandhi is on a leadership overdrive. Whether it is Coalgate or the Assam government’s handling of the recent spate of violence, the party president is visibly leading the Congress defence. Take her schedule for August 28, the day Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for Iran. She began the morning addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting in Parliament and exhorted MPs to “stand up and fight, fight with a sense of purpose and fight aggressively”. After the Lok Sabha was adjourned, Sonia walked up to Mulayam Singh Yadav. She spent 10 minutes chatting with him and ended the conversation with a namaste and shukriya ( thank you). The next day, the Samajwadi Party ( SP) government in Uttar Pradesh announced 24- hour uninterrupted power supply to Rae Bareli and Amethi.
After Parliament was adjourned later that day, Sonia did not go back to her citadel in 10 Janpath as is her wont, but instead walked across to Central Hall. She spent an hour there, surrounded by Ambika Soni and other women MPs. She also had a tete- a- tete with Lalu Prasad Yadav. Soon after the meeting, Lalu took on BJP alleging that its party leaders “took mota maal ( kickbacks) from the Reddy brothers”. Sonia then spent 10 minutes discussing the logjam with the SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav, even managing to cajole a smile from the normally taciturn Rajya Sabha MP. After that, she attended a meeting of the party’s parliamentary party executive and expressed concern about pending bills. She also invited BJP MP Kirti Azad for tea at her office in Parliament. Azad
ONE REASON FOR SONIA’S HANDS- ON APPROACH IS THAT HER FAVOURITE TROUBLESHOOTER PRANAB MUKHERJEE IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.
had walked up to her in the Lok Sabha on August 28 and enquired about her health. The two soon fell into a conversation about ‘ Indira Bua’ ( this is what Azad calls Indira Gandhi). This got him a smile from Sonia and an invitation for tea so that they could continue the conversation.
Never has the Congress seen their leader take such an active interest in parliamentary politics. There is a reason for this. Sonia’s favourite peacemaker Pranab Mukherjee is no longer available to manage the government. His replacement as Leader of the House, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, is a lightweight. There is no other second rung leader to whom she can outsource troubleshooting. Her chosen candidate for the task, Rahul Gandhi, shows no inclination to take on the leadership mantle. Even on August 8, when Advani called the UPA Government “illegitimate”, Sonia gesticulated furiously, asking her MPs to take on BJP. Rahul was present in the House at the time, but he did not join the party chorus. He has also been noticeably
silent on the Coalgate issue.
Later, Rahul was missing on Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary when the media caught up with Sonia and quizzed her about her son’s plans for a ‘ larger role’. Their queries were met with a frown as Sonia evaded an answer. According to a senior Congress general secretary, Rahul’s larger role will be confined to the party and not the Government. “He will be elevated to a post that will have all the other general secetaries reporting to him. And Rahul will be reporting directly to the Congress president,” says the general secretary. He admitted, however, that there is no time- frame for this as yet. “That is upto the family to decide,” he says with a shrug.
In the meantime, whether it is placating a sulking Virbhadra Singh or visiting relief camps in Assam, the burden of leadership rests squarely on Sonia’s shoulders. Party MPs who see Manmohan’s declining graph and Rahul’s reticence are reassured by her new- found vigour. A Lok Sabha MP, who visited her recently, tentatively asked about her illness and was reassured when Sonia claimed that she was “now quite all right”. According to a Cabinet minister, she has asked the Congress ministers to pore over files during NDA rule and identify anomalies in their decisions. She also asked Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal to brief Congress MPs about the party’s defence in Coalgate so that they can take on BJP both in media and in Parliament. Chidambaram briefed Congress MPs on the “real facts” of Coalgate at the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation to avoid media glare. Again, at the UPA coordination committee meetings, it’s Sonia who presides, not Manmohan.
There is a sub- plot in the leadership story: Priyanka Gandhi, who has recently been assigned the task of managing her mother’s constituency. She has been meeting party workers from the area at 10 Janpath. The mother and sister’s sudden bout of political activism has only shown up Rahul’s utter lack of initiative.