Sonia:
the hesitation is over
Will the polls result promote political
stability or will an inconclusive outcome aggravate India's mounting problems?
Most Pundits in Delhi predict a fiercely fought battle in March and an
inconclusive result. But will the same pundits change their minds now that Sonia
Gandhi has made up her mind. The Congress Party "celebrated Italian-born
Sonia Gandhi's decision to join the campaign" Reuter/AFP reported on
Wednesday. The frantic guessing game (Will she? Won't She? as the columnists
called it) has ended. She will.
And why not? South Asia - neighbours prefer this term to "the Indian subcontinent," a British invention and truly imperial - has produced more women presidents and prime ministers than any other region. Sri Lanka broke the male monopoly.
At first, Sonia Gandhi would only commit herself to a pledge "to help." Now the commitment is more firm. The reason is plain enough. At the right moment, Indira Gandhi's grandson and Rajiv's son has decided to stake his claims - party leadership and the highest office in the world's most populous democracy.
"1996 resolution which extended support to the 13-party coalition to form a government at the centre when the United Front failed to drop three DMK ministers following the Jain Commission report indicting the DMK in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi" says an Indian commentator.
Yes, the Dravida Munetra Kazhaham has played a crucial role in the current Indian crisis since the Jain Commission report established a connection between the DMK and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), now accused in the assassination trial. The former prime minister was killed at a polls rally by a suicide-bomber, a Sri Lankan woman. The rally was held in Tamilnadu.
Kesri: Congress
President
Mr. Kesri made another interesting point. The BJP had "no
existence in several states of the South, East and North-East. While the
Congress flag is hoisted in many villages all over the country."
The DMK, on its part, has reinforced its Tamil identity by its pact with the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC). The DMK boss, Mr. Karunanidhi, dismissed reports of growing strains in the DMK - TMC alliance. The TMC leader, Mr. Moopanar had met Congress President Sitaram Kesri and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. "It was just a courtesy call" explained Mr. Karunanidhi, fully aware that the alliance was a source of strength that the DMK could not lose at a time when any administration in Delhi desperately needs regional partners. The "fragmentation" of India is not just a seminar topic of the think-tanks and the NGO's in the capital. It was Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India - the authentic founder of non-alignment, not Tito's Yugoslavia's - who signed a formal treaty, with Moscow. It was a strategic partnership in the Cold War years which strengthened India, confronted by pro-American Pakistan and Communist China in the east.
Karunanidhi:
pact with Tamil Maanila congress
The Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR) has fallen apart. Could it happen to India? Domestic conflicts
and internal wars pose the main threat to the state in this the first post-Cold
War decade. Dis-union is the danger.
Will the election results and the composition of the next Lok Sabha strengthen India's unity or would the policies of the ruling party or "alliance" weaken the territorial integrity of the world's most populous democracy?
No leader
"The BJP has made a ridiculous claim that it will be able to provide a stable government and an able leader. But the party's track record does not bear this out," argues Jaipal Reddy spokesman of the United Front.
He may be a good person and a platform performer but is he an able leader? He then cited the view of a stalwart supporter of the BJP, Mr. Govindacharya.
"He is a mukhota, just a mask, not a leader. What happened to Vajpayee's leadership qualities when the Babri Masjid was demolished? Or was he there to accelerate the demolition and why did he resign after the mosque was destroyed and then withdraw his resignation?
Vajpayee: wiser
now?
He has always been the faithful representative of the faceless
person dominating the netherworlds of the Sangh Parivar. The dramatic rise of
the BJP can be directly traced to its powerful campaign to demolish a mosque in
the holy town of Ayodhaya. Today, the BJP is wiser - at least in this run-up to
the general election. So much so that it's recent approaches to the Muslim voter
seems to have fragmented Muslim vote-blocks, says an activist of the Janata Dal.
"If the present ambivalence continues to prevail among Muslim groups, it would indirectly benefit the BJP. In a report published by the Times, Tariq Hasan attributes the trend to a "collective apathy, the result of a unilateral fatigue.
They are watching with dismay the failure of the secular parties to deliver the goods. They have only now started to pay attention to the BJP's utterances."
Sonia's move
Will Sonia Gandhi's shrewdly timed move produce immediate gains or is this part of a long-term plan, necessarily so considering the age of the legitimate heir to the Nehru/Gandhi throne? But this bold initiative could expose the Gandhi family to assaults that Sonia and her intimate advisers may not have anticipated. Corruption most of all. In short mud-slinging and exposures by a vigorous and fiercely independent press. Already the columnists are training their guns on Sonia's opportunistic "purdah to politics" advance.
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