Fly on the Wall
What next for Sonia Gandhi
When a reluctant Sonia Gandhi was elected as Congress president on March 14, 1998 in what is famously called a “bloodless coup” throwing sitting Sitaram Kesari out, her biggest challenge was how to rejuvenate and unite the faction-ridden party. Her decision shocked one & all as she had repeatedly turned down appeals to join the party following the assassination of her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991. If she threw her weight behind P V Narasimha Rao for the PM's post in 1991 instead of Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar, in 1997, she also opted for Sitaram Kesari for the party chief's post. It was a tough time for her as the Congress was faced with internal revolt and threats from the rising BJP under the tall leadership of Atal Behari Vajpayee and L K Advani. Her foreign origin tag was also a big stumbling block as well. Then came the big test when Congress vice president Jitendra Prasada revolted and contested against Sonia Gandhi for party President's post in August 2000. How she re-built the party and in a short span of six years installed Dr Manmohan Singh in 2004 as Prime Minister for ten long years, is history. She earned respect and her public conduct is widely appreciated too. She has opted to move to the Rajya Sabha primarily to retain her 10 JanPath bungalow and silently watch the crumbling Congress she built brick by brick. Will she take back the reins again and look for an alternative leader within the Gandhi clan or outside or continue to have faith in her loving son? No one is sure.
The rise and likely fall of a Gandhi
In contrast, Rahul Gandhi got everything on a platter ever since he entered politics in 2002. The party came to power within a short span of two years and he too was elected to the Lok Sabha from Amethi in 2004. Instead of listening to the saner voices in the party, he chose to be his own master. He refused to listen to his “Gurus” like late AK Antony or even his mother and declined to join the ministry to get training on how governments are run. He refused to undertake a training program on public speaking and mastery over Hindi. His mother did a shade better and stuck to reading Hindi rather than doing Harakiri by speaking extempore. She even rewarded her Hindi teacher two Rajya Sabha terms. Insiders say that the party and its allies were in favour of Rahul Gandhi taking over the reins of the government as PM in 2011-2012 sending Dr Manmohan Singh as the President of India. But he declined saying he would like to become the PM after winning an election fought under his leadership. Eventually, he became the Congress president in December 2017 and faced a humiliating defeat in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He lost his own bastion Amethi. He quit the post in July 2019 out of the blue. Interestingly, nobody shed a tear for him and asked him to continue. But he is happy as back-seat driver of the party making Mallikarjun Kharge a lame duck president. Many party leaders feel that he may end up as a person who is bent upon destroying the party and in the process his own political career as well. His recent speeches during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra have made many of his partymen worried particularly during the UP leg. The kind of language and words he spoke have left his own supporters outside the Congress speechless.
Uneasiness Brewing in the First Family!
Reports emanating from the Congress' First Family suggest that all is not well. The first indication of this uneasiness came when the AICC general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra did not show up in Manipur on January 14, 2024 when Rahul Gandhi started his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and quietly left on a foreign trip. It was stated that she will join her brother when the Yatra enters UP. But she has not been seen yet. The only time she was seen in public was when Sonia Gandhi went to Jaipur to file her nomination to take the Rajya Sabha route. But Priyanka's body language clearly reflected that something is amiss. A week later, it was announced that she was not well and was admitted to a hospital. The last word on the issue has not been written as yet though a few leaders close to her say that she may show up within the next one week as she is back from the hospital and recouping at home. Insiders say that she is extremely upset with the kind of treatment meted out to her as she was to take the Rajya Sabha route and contest from the toughest Rae Bareli seat. But she has been left high & dry. It may be mentioned here that several senior leaders of the party are in favour of making Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the party's face as Rahul Gandhi has failed to generate faith and earn the confidence of the people. The last word on the Gandhi family saga has not been written as yet.
