For the Congressmen who expected the high voltage Sonia-mania to illuminate their lives and bring back the glorious days of absolute power, the outcome of Poll’99 must have come as a rude shock. And one look at the shambles at the bottom of the electoral pit would reveal that ‘Sonia’s electrifying presence’ has shattered the party instead of rejuvenating it as was touted.
Of course, the apologists of the dynasty and the never-say-die sychopants who infest the Congress would claim that what little has been achieved was only because of Sonia Gandhi. They would still like to believe in the infallibility or the unfailability of their leader in tune with what has now become their first or rather, their only nature.
Has not Sonia herself won in the two constituencies that she had contested, one can hear their refrain. And that is precisely the point too. Had the partymen demonstrated even one thousandth of the zeal they displayed in her constituencies to the party’s other contestants, it would have made a better showing.
Had the partymen, instead of being obsessed with Sonia and her victory, cared a trifle for other issues too, there would have been some salvation. Instead they have been willing pawns in the hands of a leader whose only interest was to retain her family’s hegemony over the party and through that, on the country itself, for obvious reasons.
Otherwise, the charming Priyanka and the dutiful son Rahul, would have at least made a token visit to, say, Manmohan Singh’s constituency. They could have even worked their magic to make Manmohan win. Does not the eminent Sardar deserve a place in Parliament, if not from two seats, at least from one?
Even the presence of Arun Nehru in Bareilly merited a sojourn by Priyanka for the simple reason that he was dubbed a betrayer of the family. But one can understand Priyanka using the elections to settle family feuds but what of the Congressmen? Are they not ashamed that a man of Manmohan’s mettle has bitten the dust even as they celebrate the twin victories of their leader?
One is inclined to imagine the Congmen’s demeanour if Sonia had lost and the Congress had won over 250 seats. The partymen would still have mourned, for, Sonia is larger than the party, an unexpendable leader and a passport to power and pelf. She will come good, if not now, at least in the future, so goes their hope and it pays to remain in the shadow of her pallu. Manmohans deserve neither cheers nor tears.
It is this obsession with the family, the incurable belief that the party’s fortunes rise and fall with the family’s, combined with an utter disregard for any issue other than those from the Nehru clan( courtesy–George), that has plunged the Congress into the depths. Sample this detail.
Despite, significant gains in Punjab and Karnataka and opening its account again in UP and TN, if the party has managed to notch up just over a hundred seats-much less than its earlier strength in LS– is it not a reflection on Sonia’s leadership and her vote-catching abilities?
Once again, if despite the debacle in UP, Punjab and Karnataka, the BJP has still made it to over 290, is it not a proof of the faith and confidence enjoyed by Vajpayee? The latter has clearly won the much touted Presidential election in the country.
And then there is the sinister methodology of the Congress cult which reeks of intrigues and subterfuge. Sonia’s foray into power politics and her conduct of the hundred year old party in the last one and half years has been characterised by ignominious happenings that do not befit the hoary history of the Congress. Here was a leader who thought it fit to enact a sort of palace coup, just to get a meek Kesri out of the way, that too, when there were no serious objections in the party for her leadership.
Once again, she went out of the way to gobble up one vital party post after the other and always through back room manipulations amidst a facade of consensus. All these reflected a strange sense of paranoia that is characteristic of ivory tower leaders who are not sure of themselves.
Then there was the aborted bid to grab power after the BJP government fell and her now famous ‘I have 272’ gaffe, all of which betrayed her self and ‘intellect’ and exposed her as just another run of the mill politician. The carefully cultivated veil of enigma and respectability came off for what it was- just a skin deep mask.
The Troika’s revolt and the cooked up hysteria that followed her resignation that never was, was once again proof that the Indian Made Foreign Leader had no time or mind for things like inner party democracy or even the party’s reputation. She watched gleefully as Congmen lapsed into a frenzy of shameless obeisance and condescended only after she had had her fill. The Troika, naturally, was thrown out, through an ‘unanimous decision of the CWC’.
And last but not the least, was her photo finish nomination drama in which she took the entire nation for a ride, shuttling mid-air between AP and Karnataka, that only showed her up as a leader who had no confidence in herself or her prospects. One would have loved to watch the fight between the Congress leading lady and the one from the reel life, Vijayashanthi but alas, Sonia knew better.
And now, she has led the party to its most resounding electoral defeat in its history. It appears that being a foreigner was the least important of Sonia’s minuses. And so, friends, Romans..er, Indians and my countrymen, thanks to one and all for averting a national shame and sparing the country the ignominy of Sonia raj.
But then there is no room for complacence as Congmen are known to be great survivors and so eternal vigilance should be the watchword, as Priyanka’s great grandfather, once warned us. Meanwhile, the rituals in the AICC, read, All Italian Congress Cult have already begun in right earnest. Scapegoats have been readied to be mounted on the altar and the presiding deity would be propitiated by the blood and heads of the victims.
Not only have the daggers already been drawn for the impending sacrifices–it is called introspection in Congress lexicon–but the shields have also been put in place to defend the leader from any unguided missiles. And so the deity herself, whose blessings turned bitter for the hapless devotees, would remain untouched, unscathed and unmoved by the wholesome carnage in her domain.
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