Columns: Fifth Column

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India Today, May 10, 1999
May 10, 1999

FIFTH COLUMN
That Thirst for Power

Sonia's desperation to rule has shattered the myths about her.

By Tavleen Singh

You know the old line "it isn't over till the fat lady sings"? Well, in our case the variation is: it isn't over till the Fat Lady goes back to Chennai. And she has. Forty-eight suitcases, flunkies and all. Meanwhile, the Thin Lady -- she who emerged briefly out of purdah into the glare of television cameras to inform us that she had 272 MPs and many more coming -- has had her prime ministerial ambitions dashed and, for the moment, also gone back behind the veil. But between them, with some invaluable help from Rashtrapati Bhavan, they have departed only after pushing the country into a general election that we could well have done without.

The only source of good cheer in an otherwise dismal scenario is that both ladies have done severe damage to themselves in the process of bringing down Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government. In Jayalalitha's case, there was little at stake to start with. Most polls indicate that few Indians think highly of her, despite her recent attempts to improve her image by singing romantic Hindi songs on television and talking about the absence of "unconditional love" in her life.

In the case of Indira Gandhi's daughter-in-law, there was much more at stake. In the past couple of years Sonia Gandhi has carefully cultivated the image of the reluctant politician. She really only wanted to live a quiet life, her spin doctors let it be known, she would have been perfectly happy doing this had the Congress not needed her help so desperately. Then, when she came out to "save the party", the impression was carefully spread around that her campaigning, her many good works were not to promote her own career in any way but for the good of the country (read: Congress). She would never be prime minister herself. She would choose someone like the good Dr Manmohan Singh for this job, while she went about with her altruistic deeds unsung and unheard in the background.

It came then as something of a shock to many Indians when she emerged late last month not just as the Congress candidate for prime minister but also as just another politician. Not a very good one either when you consider the mess she landed herself in. Her first mistake was that display of arrogant overconfidence at the first press conference outside Rashtrapati Bhavan. "How much do they say they have: 270?" she asked with a snigger. "Well, we have 272 and we hope to get many more."

When she was asked whether this meant the BJP's charge that the Congress was resorting to horse-trading was true she had a fit. She accused the BJP of charging others with what it did itself. And the press with not remembering the events of 1998 when the BJP government was formed: "You are media people ... Don't you remember what you wrote then?" As far as anyone can remember, there were no charges of horse-trading at that time because there was a pre-poll alliance. The only recalcitrant ally was Jayalalitha and nobody tried to buy her MPs.

At her next press conference two days later, our new Mrs Gandhi's arrogance was in a visibly deflated condition. She appeared from Rashtrapati Bhavan and admitted that the numbers didn't add up. Oh oh, but by that evening the spin doctors were in full swing and Delhi's hyperactive political grapevine buzzed with stories of how she had been misled by her inner circle. How men like Arjun Singh were now in the doghouse. Perhaps. But in politics it really carries no weight at all when political leaders try to blame their domestic staff for the broth being ruined.

Another interesting fallout of Mrs Gandhi's first foray into realpolitik is that suddenly a surprisingly large number of Indians are no longer amused by the possibility of having an Italian prime minister. The punditocracy is still divided on this issue, with those of leftist "secular" persuasion determined to create the impression that Indians are not bothered by her foreign origins. But wander through the bazaars of any Indian city these days and stop to ask a few questions and it is amazing how many people say they are deeply ashamed that a country of a billion people cannot find a single Indian to lead it.

Cries of "Videshi neta, videshi paisa nahin chalega" were heard even in the Lok Sabha. In short, by revealing her cards before she was actually in the running for prime minister, Sonia could well have made her biggest mistake to date. Till a few months ago, senior Congress leaders were busy boasting about how they would get at least 300 seats in the next election. There is no such boasting anymore and nobody can quite figure out why Sonia was so desperate to be prime minister just yet.

As things stand the election is likely to give us pretty much the same sort of result as we got the previous time. This is why it is vital our political parties realise the urgent need to put some safeguards into our present political system.

One suggestion is we learn from the Germans and frame a rule that a vote of confidence can only be moved if the opposition can guarantee an alternative government. A change like this is absolutely necessary if we are ever to have governments that can survive long enough to tackle our real problems. We can no longer afford the luxury of some future Fat Lady toppling a government because of some sudden whim, some imagined insult or because the lifts did not work properly in some government hotel.

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