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Adviser Raj
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Out Of Luck Now
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Hard Cover Up
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Connecting Bharat
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THE NATION: SONIA'S US TRIP

Delicate Negotiations

The display of apparent loyalty was preceded by some delicate negotiations between Sonia's aides and the Government. For, some weeks before her visit, they let Vajpayee know that Sonia would be in New York around the time of the UN General Assembly's 26th special session on HIV/AIDS. The implication was that she would like to be included in the official delegation headed by Union Health Minister C.P. Thakur. For form's sake, CWC member K. Natwar Singh wrote to Thakur about Sonia's interests. Vajpayee responded by bestowing on Sonia the privilege of addressing the plenary session for the stipulated three minutes. "It was a speech prepared and vetted by the Government. She was prepared to speak on behalf of the NDA Government. Why should we mind? It only enhanced our image," says an official.

Not that this will yield instant political dividends for the Government. Within a day of arriving in the US, Singh was on the phone to Vajpayee complaining about the inadequate security cover for Sonia. Vajpayee, while indicating the SPG guidelines for overseas visits, advised him to contact the local administration. Unfortunately, the New York authorities weren't very supportive. They advised the Congress delegation to hire additional private security, if they felt the need.

This hiccup apart, some party leaders feel that the help Sonia received from the Government during the trip does not compromise her. "The Government has not done us any favour. Sonia was merely performing the constitutional duty of assisting the Government abroad. It has not done a tenth of what we did for Vajpayee as leader of the Opposition," says Salman Khurshid, a former minister in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government.

Nevertheless, a section of the party feels Sonia could no longer be mindlessly hostile. The party had shown first signs of softening when it toned down its memorandum-submitted in Sonia's absence-to the President of India on the Tehelka issue. It refrained from seeking the dismissal of the Vajpayee Government.

"The US trip has given Sonia what she has been seeking most-legitimacy to represent India. She also wanted to ensure that the Congress is no longer stigmatised as anti-reforms. She has achieved both. Now there is no cause to be bitter," says a senior leader. But it might only take the harsh reality of politics to fade away such optimism once Sonia returns.

---With C.K. Arora in Washington

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