'A Very Serious Threat To Us'

Transcript of the interview for BBC Hindi Radio conducted at Munshiganj guesthouse, Rai Barielly on 6 April morning.

Faisal Mohammed Ali: Yesterday Rahul Gandhi filed his nominations - if he winsand you also win, I think it’d be the third time after Indira Gandhi-Sanjay Gandhi, Indira-Rajiv Gandhi thatmembers of two generations of your family would be represented together in the Parliament. How is the feeling?

Sonia Gandhi: I am now standing from Rai Barielly. It’s a very special feeling since this is the constituency from wherenot only my mother in law was a representative but my father in law Feroze Gandhi too. This in a way is amore historic constituency because it was from the time of Moti Lal Nehru and Jawahar Lal Nehru that thepolitical activities of the freedom struggle started - for instance the salt ‘satyagraha’ wasstarted here at Rai Barielly by Panditji and all his colleagues.

Faisal Mohammed Ali: A few members of the Gandhi family have been killedearlier. Do you think that your family is in danger since you are in a similar situation now?

Sonia Gandhi: Yes, there is certainly a very serious threat to us as there was in the case of my mother in law and myhusband and, as you pointed out, they were killed. But, well, that’s part of political life. My mother inlaw and my husband lived and died for the country. I don’t believe they wished to die in any other way.

Faisal Mohammed Ali: What are your expectations from the elections from thewhole country? Do you think you are going to form the government in alliance with anybody?

Sonia Gandhi: We’ll certainly fight with that aim in mind and we will try our best.

Faisal Mohammed Ali: You are trying to form alliances but except in theSouthwhere your alliance with DMK seems to be working, your alliances in other areas could not succeed - forinstance theone with BSP in the past..

Sonia Gandhi (interrupts): We have alliances in Maharashtra, as you know, and one in Bihar. Yes, in U.P. we do not have analliance but, as I said before, if we cannot come to an understanding with either of the parties here then wewould fight on our own and here we are - fighting on our own without fear.

Faisal Mohammed Ali: In the era of coalitions do you think you will be able tomuster enough majority on your own?

Sonia Gandhi: We certainly look to work with an alliance in U.P. The Congress party has done its best to try and work outan understanding but then the response was not positive.