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THE NATION:
CONGRESS
Victor's
Cross
Re-election
as party president was the least of Sonia's problems. Besides balancing
coteries, she will also have to make uncomfortable choices.
By
Lakshmi Iyer
On
November 12, the Sahara Airlines flight from Lucknow to Delhi had one
deliriously happy passenger: Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Among her
associates, there was just party General Secretary Sushil Kumar Shinde-and,
of course, the SPG commandos. Yet Sonia chose not to take her usual forty
winks. Instead, she sat up, acknowledging those who greeted her. She had
just cast a vote for herself at the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC)
office and was heady with the rousing reception she had received.
 |
| Sonia
won a mandate from a captive electoral college |
The near-hysterical
loyalty show on Lucknow's Mall Avenue, where Sonia's challenger Jitendra
Prasada reigned supreme till 1997 as UPCC president, was the first sign
of capitulation by the rival's overt and covert supporters. For, three
days later when the ballot papers were counted, Prasada stood vanquished.
He had polled a pitiful 94 votes, a little over 1 per cent of the 7,542
valid votes cast by PCC delegates across the country. Sonia had not just
won; she had walked all over her opponent.
At the All
India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters on 24 Akbar Road in Delhi,
you could have been forgiven for assuming the party had won an absolute
majority in a general election. Sonia had won a mandate from her own handpicked
PCC delegates. Even so, this was hailed as a "landslide". AICC
workers even staged a pageant to "celebrate" the victory.
Two years
ago, Sonia-vested with supreme powers by the party constitution-decided
to appear democratic. She set up a Central Election Authority (CEA) to
conduct party elections as the special task force-a body she constituted
on becoming party chief in 1998-had identified free elections for every
party post as a cure for the comatose organisation.
But before
the election could initiate the process towards transparency, Sonia lost
her nerve. As incumbent president, she would have effortlessly secured
a majority. But that would have demolished the raison d'etre of the two
coteries-one led by Arjun Singh and Vincent George, another by Madhavrao
Scindia and Ambika Soni. So the two groups persuaded Sonia not to trust
the "wisdom" of partymen and she gave them a free hand to steamroll
her re-election.
"How
could Prasada have won more votes than what he has when even the chief
ministers and the V.C. Shuklas had to display their ballot papers?"
asked a party MP. Prasada had relied on sulking state chieftains to quietly
back him. No one did. They decided instead to smoke the peace pipe with
Sonia in anticipation of getting CWC or PCC berths. Besides, the electoral
list was gone through with a toothcomb for anyone suspected of closet
sympathy for Prasada.
Insiders
argue the overkill will be counterproductive. "What would Sonia have
lost if Prasada had won 5-15 per cent of the votes? By keeping out his
closet supporters, most mass leaders have been marginalised. This will
affect our popular vote," says an AICC worker.
Many in
the party are disappointed. "Sonia has lost an opportunity to establish
herself as a truly democratic leader," rues a Congress MP. In contrast,
he recalls how the late Sitaram Kesri had acquitted himself well. In the
1997 AICC election Kesri, as incumbent-cum-presidential candidate, did
not weed out supporters of his two rivals - Sharad Pawar and the late
Rajesh Pilot. He did not even cast his vote. Says a party worker: "The
test of the leadership was facing elections. Votes didn't matter."
A Matter
of Percentage: It is the competitive sycophancy of the coteries that
complicated matters. The battle against Prasada lacked finesse and, to
many, was out of character with the Nehru-Gandhi mystique. If one coterie
went through the electoral college with a blue pencil, the other pushed
Sonia into a mock campaign mode.
Ambika Soni
resigned as AICC general secretary to canvass for Sonia. Salman Khurshid
ghost-wrote her letters to PCC delegates, reminding them of the dynasty's
sacrifices. The Arjun-George clique, on its part, forced CWC members to
issue an appeal to vote for Sonia. CWC members were despatched to states
for canvassing. Both the coteries forced the CEA to delink elections to
PCCs from the one to the Congress presidency lest local rivalries affect
Sonia's tally. In states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh
and Karnataka, PCC elections had already been notified but had to be called
off.
So what
does a fresh mandate mean for Sonia? Plenty of things. "It is like
a Monday morning after a weekend," says Khurshid. "It is a psychological
high. The same place, same people but new spirit." Despite the literary
flourish, the fact is, trouncing Prasada is not the end of Sonia's challenges.
Everyone
has fallen in line alright. But now she will have to make choices. Who
should she reward? Who can she ignore? Should she build a bridge with
the past or the future? What about reservations for women, OBCs and minorities?
There's also the problem of intellectual bankruptcy: Arjun is ageing,
Manmohan Singh is uninterested and Pranab Mukherjee is sulking.
Of equal
importance is how Sonia will deal with Prasada. Though she has pronounced
him "not guilty", Sonia will have to resist pressure to take
punitive action. After all, she has a debt to settle; the winner and loser
share a historical bond. On March 14, 1998, it was Prasada as AICC vice-president
who presided over the CWC meeting that sacked an unwilling Kesri and installed
Sonia as party chief. It may be time for Prasada to encash his IOUs.
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