Congress district president U.S. Mishra is at the microphone. "Soniaji’s first thought after she resigned was to explain to the people of Rae Bareli why she quit, not to the people of India," he reminds the crowd. Minutes later, Sonia climbs onto the stage, forehead emblazoned with a tilak acquired at the Hanuman temple—a mandatory stop on the outskirts of Rae Bareli. She accepts the giant rose and marigold garlands, the Bhagwad Gita, an offering from a local Muslim delegation, and, to the delight of a rapturous crowd, brandishes a sword presented by local Sikhs.
Her speech is combative and, like the posters, links her travails with the Opposition to the past: for like Nehru, Indira and Rajiv, she too is being targeted. "I am the principal enemy...to be pelted with stones, crucified with nails, and shot at with bullets."
And so she has come to share her sorrows with Rae Bareli’s people. The National Advisory Council’s (NAC) mandate, she stresses, was to monitor the Congress’ promises to the people. But because she headed the NAC, it was labelled "an office of profit" by the Opposition. "The Congress," she reminds them, "is not just a political party, it is an ideology, a set of principles, and it is through this tradition that a new history will be written." Inspiring stuff, and delivered with much passion.
The only problem is it reinforces the widely held belief across UP that Sonia is interested only in the family pocketborough of Rae Bareli and Amethi. The "family" theme is carried through even on the stage—the only "outsider" is Congress veteran Mohsina Kidwai. The others include local functionaries and Sanjay Singh, but he is there because he is the Raja of Amethi. Even upcc chief Salman Khursheed and general secretary in-charge of UP, Ashok Gehlot, are permitted to only escort her to Rae Bareli’s border.
So Congress state party spokesman Akhilesh Pratap Singh may say, "People respect sacrifice in India...it’s an image booster. Sonia’s byelection will be the launching pad for the Congress for next year’s assembly elections, it’ll revive the party’s fortunes in the state." But ask anyone anywhere in UP—from Congress functionaries to bureaucrats to Muslim villagers to lawyers at the district courts—and the analysis is the same: with the party organisation virtually non-existent outside ‘the region’, there’s no one to translate goodwill and nostalgia—of which there is a great deal for the Congress—into votes.
A civil servant in Lucknow puts things in perspective, "If the Congress had used its time since 2004 to build itself in UP, and the Gandhis had toured the state, perhaps Sonia’s second sacrifice could have been used effectively as a vote-getter. But now the impact is likely to be limited to this region." At Faizabad, 120 km from Lucknow, Bhagirath Verma—an OBC from the Kurmi community—is hoping the court will intervene to help him get a para teacher’s job without paying a bribe to the village pradhan. But he too has a take on Sonia: "Sonia has shown she respects the law...she’s made the other political parties look shameless. I admire her for her principles, but the Congress is in no position to fight anyone." At Jaganpur, a Muslim-dominated village on the Barabanki-Faizabad road, Mohammad Mushtaq, ex-pradhan, says, "Sonia did the right thing. The other parties keep attacking her, calling her a foreigner...maybe, that’s why she is wary of travelling around UP. The Congress is improving gradually in UP, but it’s slow."
Indeed, Congressmen themselves admit the current office-of-profit controversy will be difficult to "convert into a wave". It will be hard, they say, to reduce it to a simple and effective political message that can cut through caste differences and compensate for the lack of an organisation on the ground.
Says Khursheed cautiously, "It’s too early. Personally, the party is excited... there is a lot of fervour. If you ask me whether an MP like Sonia Gandhi should head the NAC, the answer is yes. Can it be compared with an MP heading a corporation? No. But to convert it into an effective argument, use it as a catalyst, that will be the challenge."
Indeed, the battle for political space in UP is getting tougher. The BJP looks on its last legs and the ruling Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh Yadav—weighed down by the Amar Singh CD controversy, a near-revolt in party ranks and the deteriorating law and order situation—appears to be on its way out. The rising star is quite clearly the bsp. It was the only party which did not face cross-voting in the recent RS and UP legislative council polls, receiving 86 first preference votes, even though its assembly strength is just 67.
The signs are all there on the streets of Lucknow. On March 27, Mulayam dominates the political wall space, announcing an allowance for unemployed graduates. Overnight, two giant hoardings come up, confronting each other: one to greet Sonia, arriving from Delhi en route to Rae Bareli; and the other to announce bsp leader Mayawati’s upcoming rally at the Ambedkar Stadium. Mayawati is taking her battle to Lucknow, the nerve centre of UP—something the Congress does not seem prepared to do as yet.
The next morning, virtually all traces of Sonia’s visit have been wiped out, illustrating not just the efficiency of the administration but symbolising the party’s ineffectiveness at the street level in the state. Indeed, in Uttar Pradesh today, Sonia may be the grande dame of Rae Bareli, but Mayawati is the uncrowned queen of the state. Cutting across caste and class lines, people cite Mayawati’s record as chief minister and say that she alone can run an efficient administration, and end the free run the state’s mafiosi have had under Mulayam.
Little wonder then that the state Congress leadership has been focusing on demonstrations and candle-light vigils to force the Mulayam administration to bring Meher Bhargava’s killers—who reportedly have close links to current minister and mafioso Raja Bhaiyya—to justice. In Uttar Pradesh’s current frame of mind, this may just carry more resonance than talk of "the sacrifice".
