SONIA Gandhi's 'mystery woman' persona was considerably enhanced last fortnight. Congressmen who had jump-started the oust-DMK demand on the premise that Sonia would campaign for the Congress in the event of elections, soon discovered that they had misread the signals from 10, Janpath. The hardliners' calculation, that a Congress starring Rajiv Gandhi's widow would corner enough seats to form a government at the Centre after the UF's exit, suddenly began to ring hollow.
On paper, the Sonia-as-vote catcher theory looked sound. But the hitch is Sonia herself. According to sources close to her, the lady of 10, Janpath had never made any commitment to campaign for the Congress—although every Congressman who lined up for Sonia darshan came back confident she would lend a helping hand to the party. Says one exasperated friend of the family: "Show me one Congressman to whom Sonia has made the promise." Clearly, those who called on Sonia read too much into her mien. When Congress delegations met her imploring her to lead the party, Sonia would only smile politely. This was quickly interpreted as a sign that she was willing to take over the presidentship of the Congress. Even middle-rung leaders, who may never have been granted an audience with her, often boast that they had met 'madam' and that she had promised to help revive the Congress.
Senior Congressmen have also been guilty of such misinterpretations. In the last two years, a leader of K. Karunakaran's stature and experience has told the press at least a dozen times—each time with a ring of finality—that Sonia was joining politics. In the same vein, senior state Congress leaders who visit Delhi often return home with 'assurances' from Sonia that she would sort out the problems of the party at the grassroot level. The truth, according to insiders, is that Sonia gives everyone a patient hearing—but never ever makes a commitment.
As the UF and the Congress rift heightened, it became apparent that the 'Sonia the saviour' refrain of many Congressmen was misplaced. It is reliably learnt that 10, Janpath did not even give the green signal to the Congress leadership to send an ultimatum to the Gujral government to drop the three DMK ministers in the Union cabinet. However, since ensuring action against those linked to the assassination of her husband has been on top of Sonia's agenda, those who spearheaded the campaign against the DMK after it was named in the Jain Commission's interim report were not wrong in assuming that Sonia would indeed approve of their actions.
In fact, the only occasions when Rajiv's widow has entered the political arena and taken a vocal stand have been on issues concerning the investigation into her husband's death. Two years ago, when she trained her guns on the then Narasimha Rao regime, it was to make her displeasure known against the government's refusal to cooperate with the Jain Commission. Similarly, when she conceded to demands from Congressmen to give a unity call the next year, it was aimed at sending a clear message to Rao—that she did not want him as party president since it was alleged that he was responsible in covering up certain facts pertaining to Rajiv's killing.
Sonia, it is reliably learnt, also wants the Congress to purge itself of those who acted against the interests of her husband. The party is likely to take action against leaders who launched Operation Cover-up and tried to wind up the Jain Commission—only after the final report is tabled in Parliament. Though Rajiv's memory was invoked after Jain's report, Sonia does not seem to be ready to take the plunge by riding the wave. A Congress divided into three camps—that of Kesri, Arjun Singh and Narasimha Rao—and pulling in three different directions meant that Sonia had to tread carefully since she did not wish to be identified with any particular grouping.
Right from the beginning, Congress president Sitaram Kesri was all for toughening the Congress stance vis-avis the DMK but did not wish to precipitate a crisis which would lead to midterm elections. The Arjun Singh camp favoured ambushing the Gujral government if it did not drop the DMK. Rao supporters kept a low profile and were not too keen to bring the Jain Commission findings to the fore.
In the circumstances, Sonia's advice to senior party leaders last week was that they should act in the best interests of the party. And that if they felt that the Congress could better its position with a snap mid-term poll, they should settle for a fresh mandate. But, according to Congress sources, she did not—at any point—say that she would campaign, leave alone lead the party.
Since no clear signals were emanating from 10, Janpath after all the brouhaha over the Jain report, many Congressmen quickly altered their stance from 'elections now' to 'no one is ready for elections'. The hardliners, led by Arjun Singh, the only Congress leader who has been in touch with Sonia, went into a shell. It was plain to see that no one in the Congress was in favour of a mid-term poll. Sonia herself, it is reliably learnt, is personally not in favour of elections. Perhaps because Congressmen are still hopeful that once elections are announced, they could convince Rajiv's widow to campaign for the party. All agree that her presence would indeed revitalise the Congress. But Sonia herself has not given any indication to that end. And that explains the doubts about Congress prospects at the hustings should the party have to seek votes minus star campaigner Sonia Gandhi.
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