Hard Times Awaits Sonia Gandhi

Amitava Mukherjee

(Amitava Mukherjee is a senior journalist and commentator. He can be reached at amitavamukherjee253@gmail.com)

As the interim president of the Congress Sonia Gandhi is faced with a tough job as this time she is sure to find internal conditions of her party less suitable for her personalized style of functioning. The arrest of P Chidambaram and the succeeding developments have brought to light the uncomfortable fact that the Nehru Gandhi family’s words are no more taken as the final order by at least some influential members of the party. Or is it really the other way? Is every drama within the Congress is being orchestrated and dictated by the ‘First Family’?

But let us take into consideration the conflicting views heard within the Congress over the arrest of P. Chidambaram. No, time has not come for us to say anything on the culpability of Chidambaram in any crime. The matter is sub judice and the judiciary will decide. But Sonia should have kept Congress away from the controversy. She should have told Chidambaram - Look, it is your personal matter and as such it is your own duty to get yourself absolved of any charge by the court. The Congress, as a political entity, will not be any party to it. If you can prove yourself innocent, then the doors of the Congress will always remain open for you in future.

On the contrary, she fielded the whole Congress machinery in support of Chidambaram. Party luminaries like Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singvi argued for Chidambaram in court although with occasional incompetence. Priyanka Gandhi tweeted in Chidambaram’s favour, not to speak of the Congress rank and file trying to block the passage of the CBI officers who had gone to arrest the former UPA minister. It will be alright if Chidambaram is declared innocent by the judiciary but if it turns otherwise and the former minister is held guilty by the court then the Congress will also be looked upon as an accessory to unlawful act. Has Sonia Gandhi taken this into consideration?

Makhan Lal Fotedar, the deceased political aide of Indira Gandhi, had once expressed reservations about the leadership capabilities of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and had even predicted that their stewardship of the party would come under challenge from inside the organization one day. That has come true as one after another leader of the party has now been taking positions that are quite opposed to the official party line approved by the Nehru- Gandhi family. This first happened when, going against the party line, leaders like Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindhia and some others had the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

But the most serious opposition to Sonia Gandhi came when A.K. Antony dourly opposed her selection as the party’s interim president in a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting. Now, Antony is no ordinary member of the Congress. He is known to be one of its pillars is known to enjoy good equations with Indira Gandhi’s household. So his opposition to Sonia indicates simmering subterranean discontent against the latter. There were more setbacks for the Nehru-Gandhi family a few days later when some other senior leaders of the party like Jairam Ramesh, Abhishek Manu Singvi and ShashiTharoor sang a tune of praise for Narendra Modi. Their contention was that the Prime Minister of India should not be demonized on all occasions as he has taken some praiseworthy administrative steps also.

For the Congress rank and file it is now a million dollar question whether schism within the Congress over Sonia and Rahul will exacerbate or not. Already the nation is witnessing some old style dramas.

Verappa Moily, the veteran Congress leader from Karnataka and a known Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist, has launched a no holds barred attack on Jairam Ramesh and demanded disciplinary actions against him. The Kerala state Congress has also sought explanations from Shashi Tharoor. These are all the stereotypes which one witnessed during the time of Indira and Rajiv. Indira ran the party with an iron hand. But such demonstrations of loyalty were organized when she was brought under the long arms of law during the Janata Party rule.

These murmurs of dissent will remain but will pose no threat to Sonia’s leadership right at this moment. But much will depend on how the Congress performs in the coming Assembly elections of Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. In Haryana Bhoopinder Singh Hooda, the former chief minister and the tallest Congress leader of the state, is in a rebellious mood. Many interesting stories, unpalatable to the Congress, about the reasons behind his belligerence, are doing the rounds. Ashok Tanwar, the Haryana state Congress president, is a Sonia protégée. Will he be able to deliver the desired election result? Although Sonia is in no mood to placate Hooda yet compulsions of the situation have forced the Congress to think about replacing Tanwar by Kumari Selja and making Bhoopinder Huda the Chairman of the Campaign Committee at the time of the election. But if Hooda does not get satisfied with this arrangement and if he departs in its wake then there will be very little left of the Congress in Haryana. But more important for the Congress is Maharashtra. It is known that large numbers of party functionaries including Ashok Chavan, a former chief minister, are aggrieved.

At least thrice in the past Congress had to face internal crises in post-independence India. The first happened in 1969 resulting in a vertical division of the party and the birth of the Congress (I). The second took place during the time of the Emergency when Young Turks within the Congress like Chandrasekhar, Mohan Dharia, Ram Dhan and others revolted against Indira Gandhi, broke away and joined the Janata Party. The third was witnessed when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister. It is rumoured that Giani Zail Singh, the then President of India, had even thought of dismissing the Rajiv government. Zail Singh was not alone. He was backed by a sizable number of people who once belonged to Rajiv’s core group.

But there is a big difference between the situation then and now. Indira and Rajiv dealt with the dissidents from a position of strength. Sonia does not enjoy that privilege. She has only 52 members in the Lok Sabha. It is to be seen whether she can handle dissidence and jack up her party’s fortune.

Also Read: ‘Why Are Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi Not In Jail, If They Are Corrupt?’