The Real Fears Of Sonia Gandhi

For the last three days the media gorged on the BJP meet, the differences and infighting in the party. The elevation of Narendra Modi as Chairman of the party’s election campaign has probably rattled more people in the Congress and the media. The usual propagandists Arnab Goswami, Sagarika Ghose, Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai and others showed up on the screens on a Sunday. The usual bitching went on in the hunting season that has already started. The usual rants of secular vs communal, polarising figure, 2002 etc. figured on all channels. And then again the final question of whether Rahul Gandhi will now stand up and fight Modi. All that is stuff we have heard over and over again in the media with no consequence. The important question is why is media still pitching for a RahulG Vs Modi fight? One thing that is certainly good about the proceedings in the BJP is that you do have to fight and earn your positions in the party. In the Congress you just have to be born in the Gandhi family. But why Rahul Gandhi? Why is it that the media allows Sonia Gandhi a walkover from the fight? She has greater stakes in elections than RahulG. Why is the media shielding her? Clever, isn’t it?

While bragging that they aren’t scared of Modi or his elevation is an internal matter of the BJP none of the major Congress spokies could avoid commenting on the events. The Congress has lost elections in many states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal among others. None of the leaders in these states bothers Congress or threatens them at the Centre. It is only and only Narendra Modi that poses the most serious threat and challenge to the Congress rule at the Centre. No other single politician poses the level of threat that he does. Therefore, Modi is not contesting or challenging RahulG. His challenge is clearly to Sonia Gandhi and nobody else. If at all Modi even comments on MMS it is simply because he is technically the PM otherwise not just Modi, nobody in India would even think of MMS. It is thus important to remove the veil that the crony media has placed on SoniaG.

On the sidelines of his address to the World Conference of Religions Swami Vivekananda once told an American audience if you put a fish on the most glittering throne in the world it will still prefer dirty water to that throne. That’s the life of a fish. Some people would find their lives unbearable if they were removed from the throne and placed somewhere else. For most of her adult life Sonia Gandhi is used to a kind of throne that would make life elsewhere unbearable. Since her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi she has lived under the cover of power; first as wife of Rajiv Gandhi and daughter-in-law of IndiraG and then as UPA chairperson. In between there were just a few years when Congress was out of power but that hasn’t taken away her life in the comfort of power. Since RajivG’s death she has been mostly on her own and has had to defend her life of power. The few years that kept her out during Narasimha Rao’s tenure and later under the third front govt only pushed her back into the Congress to seize power and become president of the party. President for life!

Media celebs keep asking if Modi is a threat to Congress. He definitely is, even if they publicly deny it. The Congress had sensed this threat from the time they lost the 2002 elections in Gujarat and with their lackeys in the media had carried out, and still continue the most vicious witch-hunt ever in India. Barkha Dutt now asks the sly question if Modi has become bigger than BJP the party. Truth is, Modi has currently become a bigger draw than the Gandhis and that is the worry for Sonia Gandhi. He is not just the most sought after politician in India but even among foreign audiences. The media, which should be the govt’s first adversary, has become so obsessed with the main Opposition party that they churn out fake stories from spurious sources with regular monotony.

It doesn’t take an Einstein to know that Sonia Gandhi is not exactly a wizard on any topic. I can even safely say that she may not have a great understanding of the economy, economics or the other social issues that really concern India. Not choosing to be PM may have other reasons but another one may also be that being PM would mean being a lot in the public eye where her ignorance on various issues would be badly exposed. Consider the number of gaffes that RahulG makes on many occasions even with written speeches. That should give you some idea. It is such ignorance that made Sonia buy someone else’s line like ‘Maut ka Saudagar’ for which the Congress paid heavily electorally. Digvijaya Singh states that his party will fight the next election based on the Congress ideology. What exactly is Congress ideology? If you ask SoniaG to answer that question in one sentence I guarantee she won’t be able to answer. The Congress ideology is simply ‘Gandhi’ and nothing more.

IndiraG, except for about 3 years of the Janata Party, remained PM till her death once she became the PM. When the Janata Party came to power after the Emergency she did what Congress always does; bring down the non-Congress govt by hook or crook. SoniaG did something similar in the first term of AB Vajpayee too. It has been a tradition in the Congress to make all attempts to bring down non-Congress govts in every State and the Centre when they are not in power. Without power they are like fish out of water. This is exactly what SoniaG fears the most. She has earned herself a position of absolute power with no responsibility and no accountability for anything that is done by the UPA govt. Her only work in the UPA is self-preservation. Her travels are a secret. Her illness, if there is one, is a secret. Even RTI applications have not yielded responses on her travels. Nobody knows when she leaves India, where she goes and when she returns and whose aircrafts she uses. Do you think SoniaG would ever want to give up all these privileges? This is what Modi threatens the most.

Her NAC is thus a creation of a durbar which drafts the most populist schemes that can garner votes. As NAC Chairperson she also gets the status of a Cabinet rank minister which she otherwise wouldn’t have. As the NAC Chair she also doesn’t have to answer to anyone or be accountable to anyone. The Congress spokies call others Hitler, fascists, dictators and all such epithets. But the real dictator is right at the top of the Congress pile. SoniaG is reportedly polite and “lenient” as her brilliant son calls her. But during testing times she has shown to get very short-tempered and agitated. This has been seen in the parliament quite often. Take a look at this report after the Chattisgarh naxal attack on May 25:

Even if the situation in Chattisgarh was a calamity she really had no business to be in the meeting of the State govt, the PM and the Governor. She has actually made the PM irrelevant. The arrogance with which she threatens sacking a CM and a state govt “in one minute” says how far she is willing to go. In much the same way all the NAC schemes that are churned out are a burden on the economy and have nearly bankrupted India. The Bharat Nirman is another major dole to the media of around 2500 crores. She is in a great rush to push the Food Security Bill through well before the elections. FSB is another populist scheme with nothing but votes in mind. All these are acts of self-preservation that the media conveniently overlooks.

RahulG has proved over and over again that he is not a threat to any politician or party. In fact he is a big threat to his own party. Where ever he goes the Congress has ended up with a poor performance. SoniaG has had a decade of uninterrupted power without any accountability. It is not easy to let such power go and she will have the Congress turn the world upside down to keep her unique position. As a woman and as a widow of a former PM the politicians and media have shown her far more sympathy and allowed her to go unquestioned on many issues. Any other person would simply not have been afforded such a luxury. She has managed to have others like Mulayam, Mayawati, Karunanidhi and even Mamata Banerjee play along. She has even managed some leaders of the BJP play along on some of her policies. Only one man won’t play along and that is Modi. Is it a surprise that the media and Congresswallahs have suddenly developed so much love for LK Advani?

The only ideology of the Congress is “Gandhi” as someone said. The only other ideology is how to gain and remain in power at any cost. The economy, economics and all other such considerations are secondary. The media keeps asking if RahulG will stand up and fight Narendra Modi. This is their fake wet dream. RahulG can’t even fight small-time politicians let alone a giant. The meteoric rise of Modi threatens SoniaG and this is probably her greatest fear. All the filthy language that Congress politicians use for Modi is used on her behalf. Her self-preservation is more important than any issue for the Congress. Without her the Congress is just a Sibal. If the Congress spokies are so agitated at the rise and elevation of Modi as the party campaign Chairman it is a reflection of the fears of Sonia Gandhi. The Congress political fortunes have been on a downswing and the one person who threatens their power the most is the one most discussed and vilified in the media. These are the fears of Sonia Gandhi manifested in the media’s poor discourse.