CURRENT TOPICS: Sonia saga

Indeed truth is stranger than fiction. Otherwise can you imagine a girl from a small Italian village heading a foreign country of a billion people said to be the largest democracy in the world? When she came to London as au pair in her early twenties to learn English she, had no qualifications to boast about - neither peerage, education nor intellectual claims. She met and married a young man of Indian origin who happened to be a commercial pilot.
She was not the scheming type and perhaps not aware that her fiancee was a prize catch as he belonged to the ruling Nehru-Gandhi dynasty of India and sort of heir to the throne. Her husband Rajiv had no interest or inclination in politics though his maternal grandfather Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru was then the Prime Minister of independent India.
This disinterest remained intact when his mother Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister moving him up next in line of dynastical succession. In this respect he was facilitated because his younger brother Sanjiv was politically ambitious and was aspiring for the top.
Unfortunately for Rajiv (some would say fortunately for him) Sanjiv met an untimely death in an air crash and Indira the iron lady was assassinated. By this time Rajiv-Sonia had returned to India and Sonia had established herself as the favourite daughter-in-law to Indira as Sanjiv's wife Meneka was rebellious and had become persona-non-grata. Sonia on the contrary was unambitious, unassuming and docile having taken over the management of the PM's household.
When Indira passed away, Indian National Congress pushed Rajiv to premiership as the Indian voters worshipped Nehru-Gandhi name. Reluctantly or not Rajiv accepted what had become his right to succession and he did reasonably well despite his earlier aversion to politics.
Overnight Sonia was anointed as the First Lady of India. But she remained reclusive as a traditional Indian wife and mother. By now she had a son Rahul and daughter Priyanka.
Another tragedy befell the family when Rajiv was assassinated by Tamil rebels of Sri Lanka in the Prime of his life and Sonia became a grieving widow. She was conscious of her foreign origin and was not willing to enter public life. She resisted attempts to make her President of the Congress but in the end she had to give in. She was conscious that her acceptance was only as Rajiv Gandhi's widow and not in her own right.
Actually there was widespread resentment on her foreign origin. She could not speak Hindi fluently and had to make do with ghost written speeches which were delivered haltingly and lacked impact.
However, her naivety, aloofness from internal divisions and decorum did enable her to keep the warring party leaders in line until the next elections. Narsimha Rao, the then prime minister was not fond of Sonia and the Congress lost to BJP which had contested on Hindutva platform as against Congress's secular stance.
It was during Narsimah's rule that Babri Masjid was demolished followed by extensive communal riots to the detriment of the Muslim minority which had traditionally supported the Congress.
No wonder, therefore, that BJP defeated Congress and formed a coalition government, which though shaky in the beginning, settled down thanks to the able stewardship of Atal Behari Vajpayee who was leader larger than the party.
During the BJP's rule, privatisation initiated earlier by Manmohan Singh, the Congress finance minister in the early 90s, was further expanded and substantial economic progress was made. Congress though a sizeable opposition was considered a spent force and Sonia written off as a challenge.
BJP, therefore, called early general elections and fought it brandishing "Shinning India" slogan confident of sweeping victory. Sonia in the meantime had matured and had consolidated the Congress party. To the surprise of the analysts she defeated BJP hands down and emerged as a force to reckon with. She structured a coalition of the left and the right to form a Congress led government.
To the astonishment of people at home and abroad, she declined prime minister's post which was here's for the taking. It was considered as supreme self-sacrifice, but in fact it was a shrewd calculated decision. She knew and accepted that she was not Prime Minister material and not capable or qualified to shoulder the executive responsibilities. Instead she has remained a power beyond the throne, choosing non-controversial, non-political and clean as a whistle Manmohan Singh to fill the PM post to carry forward economic reforms.
She had realised that BJP's policies had mainly benefited the elite without amelioration of the poor masses whose votes had brought Congress back to power. To rebut BJP claim of shinning India, she adopted the slogan "Congress Ka-hath aam admi ke sath" and it proved effective.
Sonia as President of Congress does not interfere with the day-to-day government. As a matter of fact, she has become more powerful by renouncing power. No major policy decision is taken by the government without consulting her and she remains the supreme leader of India having gained popular legitimacy, if not political legitimacy.
Sonia may lack charisma of her mother-in-law or charm of her husband, but has captured the hearts of the common people as a deity to remain unchallenged until Rahul and/or Priyanka are groomed to take over and perpetuate the dynasty. And why not? After all India is a nation of idol worshippers. The heirs apparent would be for them Murtis in flesh and blood as against the inanimate made of sand and stone.