Sonia Gandhi and Congress

THIS refers to the front page editorial by Mr Hari Jaisingh (May 19) in which it has been pointed out that Mrs Sonia Gandhi has added to her stature by initially bowing out as Congress President, and it was she who rejuvenated the party after the dismal handling of it by Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao and Mr Sitaram Kesri.

When Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated she was offered the leadership, but by refusing to accept it she earned much respect. Then Mr Narasimha Rao followed by Mr Kesri played havoc with the party and brought it to the brink of extinction. It is known to everyone that prior to the 1998 general election the Congress was in a state of complete shambles. Everybody was ready to write it off as a political force and to dump it with a label of dead party. Then Congressmen of every shade made a beeline to Mrs Sonia Gandhi to request her to hold the reins of the party to save it from the impending disaster. And finally she bowed to the popular and unanimous demand of the Congressmen.

With her return to the helm of affairs, the enthusiasm returned in every Congressmen. The Congress faced the electorate with an increased vigour and confidence. Under the leadership of Mrs Sonia Gandhi it emerged as the second largest party with a respectable tally. Then came elections to the assemblies of Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. The Congress registered thumping victories, dislodged the BJP from the seat of power in Rajasthan, Delhi and retained MP.

It started looking evident that the Congress was regaining the lost ground and was emerging a hot contender for power at the Centre. The BJP government collapsed due to inept handling of its partners in spite of many immoral compromises for the sake of retaining power at any cost. It was becoming clearer day by day that Mrs Sonia Gandhi was emerging a strong favourite for the post of Prime Minister. Therefore, the BJP and its allies and some of the power-hungry Congress personalities became jittery.

The BJP unleashed a campaign against Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Confronted by the bankruptcy of ideas, they started attacking her personality. They have tried to revive the most infamous ghost of the Bofor’s gun deal and label Mrs Sonia Gandhi as a foreigner. The game-plan of the BJP is understandable because they perceive her as the biggest threat to their programme of recapturing power at the Centre.

Most unfortunate is the behaviour of some power-hungry Congressmen like Mr Sharad Pawar, Mr P.A. Sangma and Mr Tariq Anwar. When the Congress was dying these very people begged Mrs Sonia Gandhi to save the party from certain ruin. Now when the Congress has regained strength to be able to become capable of capturing power then these people have started counting their chances of becoming the heroes and heirs to power.

At best these people can be compared to those who are greedy for dowry. These people want the bride to bring the maximum dowry, and after swallowing the whole dowry they burn the bride. They wanted Sonia to bring the masses back to the Congress fold. When it became clear that the Congress had regained the lost ground, they dubbed her a foreigner and unfit to become Prime Minister.

Mr Sharad Pawar wants to play Mr V.P. Singh to become a rallying point so that he may emerge as Prime Minister. He is forgetting the ground reality that he cannot get that support by stabbing in the back of Mrs Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party. The most important reason is that the BJP is itself a hot contender for power.Therefore, there is no question of supporting Mr Sharad Pawar. Rather it can manipulate and use Mr Pawar to its own advantage. The second important factor is that there is nothing against Mrs Sonia Gandhi in person so that the anti-Sonia forces should rally round him.

TIRATH GARG
Ferozepur City

* * * *

Minor political players

Minor players on the political chessboard of India have been dominating the scene and playing havoc with the prestige and welfare of the country. The masses have been put under heavy strain. This rootless parasitical vegetation (amar bel) has been holding out promises of all types of fruits and given nothing to the people in concrete terms, as the main aim has been to work for self, their castes and their own region, carrying little for the country as a whole.

Now the time has come to ruthlessly get rid of these unscrupulous elements, to send all the accused in scams behind bars and to disentitle them to vote and become candidates for the coming election. The instances of placing such limitations in the interest of the country are well known.

Let all patriotic Indians take a solemn pledge to think and work for the good of the country in a bold way.

B. L. BANSAL
Chandigarh

* * * *

Caretaker govt & President

The controversy over the caretaker government needs to be put behind us and the nation enabled to gear itself for productive results, which are of paramount importance today.

There is no such thing as caretaker government as per law anywhere, and much more so in a democratic republic. It is a futile argument to say that Parliament, which gave the ministry, is itself now dissolved, thereby knocking out the base of foundation.

In such an event what about the powers of the President himself, who has also acquired his status and position through Parliament? The powers and the position of the President and his Ministry will have to continue with their normal terms till such time a new Parliament comes into being. That seems to be the reason for the framers of our Constitution to have clubbed together the Presidency and the Ministry, saying that both should act complimentarily.

The President and the Cabinet together can hold the administration to be on an even keel. The Election Commission, with its monitoring the code of conduct during election time, and our judicial system plus the well-established Fourth Estate will take care of any unhealthy conduct by any unworthy.

M. S. VENKATARAMAN,
SACRAMENTO REESE
and SONIA IYER
Granite Bay (CA, USA)
(In response to the Internet edition.)