Sonia Steals The Show!
Tara Shankar Sahay in Calcutta
Sonia Gandhi was the undoubted star at the All India Congress Committee session in Calcutta.
A cheering crowd of Congressmen would not allow Sitaram Kesri to deliver his presidential address till Sonia took her place on the dais. Sonia arose from the audience as Congress delegates gave her a standing ovation.
Greeted with flower petals, bouquets and shouts of 'Sonia Gandhi zindabad' and 'Rajiv Gandhi amar rahe,' Sonia was then compelled to give a brief speech in Hindi.
There was nothing new in what she said; most of it harked back to her husband's speech at the Congress centenary 12 years ago, reminding party workers to make the Congress a mass movement.
Her presence has boosted Kesri's stature at the Congress convention. Under attack from his adversaries who will not miss an opportunity to strike at him, this was Chacha's big moment, when his presidency appeared to be endorsed by a member of the party's presiding dynasty.
Congress leaders told Rediff On The NeT that a "rearrangement" was in the offing and that Kesri would have things his way in Saturday's election to the Congress Working Committee.
"Soniaji has changed the complexion of things by her presence, by accepting Kesri's invitation to attend this session," said Harish Rawat, former Lok Sabha MP and president of the Seva Dal.
Even Suresh Kalmadi, the party MP who is close to Kesri's rivals P V Narasimha Rao and Sharad Pawar, conceded that Sonia's presence had buttressed Kesri's position.
During his presidential address, Kesri deviated from the text and asked Sonia to take up any responsibility she wanted to rejuvenate the organisation. Her tapasya, he said, would be incomplete until she came centrestage and played an active part in Congress politics.
"I have become old and I want you to be there. You are away from the party for the last five years. Now you should associate yourself with the party in a big way," Kesri declared. "You cannot deviate from the family tradition of being in the forefront of the party which has to be made stronger and vibrant," he added.
Firing a fusillade at his adversaries, Kesri said they would criticise him for asking her
to actively involve herself in party affairs, but "Congressmen realise that the party has
suffered poll debacles after losing the leadership of the Nehru family."
The link with the Nehrus, he said, had now been re-established with her
decision to attend the Calcutta session -- Sonia, then in mourning did not attend
the 1992 AICC plenary at Tirupati. ''You have come as a symbol
representing the family. I am ageing and if the Congress collapses, the
responsibility will be yours,'' he said.
After Sonia's reception on Saturday, Congress sources said it was certain that Kesri would nominate her to an important party post, most likely on the CWC.
But if Kesri was honey and sugar on the Sonia issue, he breathed fire at his enemies, promising stern action against those who had inspired the cat-calls and slogans against him as Saturday's proceedings began. His supporters disclosed his determination to track down those who had dared to "insult" him in Sonia's presence.
The ugly mood evaporated thereafter as most speakers lauded Kesri's leadership.
Speaking to Rediff On The NeT outside the VIP lounge, Madhavrao Scindia said despite the effort of "disgruntled elements", Kesri had shown that the Congress was the only party which people could trust.
Scindia dismissed the dissidents's dream of staging a coup against Kesri at the AICC summit as a "mirage." He indicated that "a veteran party leader from Madhya Pradesh" -- a clear allusion to Arjun Singh -- had already tried to do so and failed.
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