Sonia Gandhi was able to resurrect Congress successfully precisely because she was not power hungry, and she made the sacrifice to keep Congress together.
As Rahul Gandhi takes over the reins of the party, it is important to reiterate that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul have always consulted each other, in a very mother-and-son style. Now, it is for them to decide how they will collaborate and how they will evolve a working system.
We hope that Sonia Gandhi is not going into retirement mode now and will be available to us. People will continue to seek her wisdom and expertise, and more importantly her understanding of the party and what the country needs is going to be useful now more than ever. She has had touched many peaks in her political journey. But, her best is yet to come.
As long as Rajiv Gandhi was there, Sonia Gandhi did not take any interest in politics. We only met her when there were official dinners. She was like any other housewife. After Rajiv Gandhi was unfortunately taken away from this world in a very untimely manner, Sonia Gandhi kept absolutely silent for a few years. It’s only after the people of the country and Congress members started demanding that she play an active role that she eventually agreed, even though she was reluctant. All of us felt that she would be the best person to carry on the legacies of Rajiv Gandhi.
But when she fought the election, there was another Congress leader who also filed his papers. She won that election, and we were all very happy that here was somebody who would represent the ethos of the Nehru-Gandhi political philosophy and style of functioning. There was this sense of great comfort and great confidence that she had come into the party. She did face resistance but it was not particularly significant in terms of numbers. There were leaders like Sharad Pawar, but the vast majority had confidence in her – not only because she conducted herself very well, but she also seemed to know the Congress and its ideology very well. She wasn’t unfamiliar.
After Rajiv Gandhi’s demise, a lot of us kept meeting her, and the general perception was that she possessed a general understanding of Indian politics and Congress politics. Though she spoke very little, she wasn’t a novice.
When she addressed the Kolkata session for the first time, everybody knew right then that she had it in her.
The circumstances and the situation of the country in which she evolved as a leader were very different from Rajiv Gandhi’s time. When she took charge, there was an Atal Bihari Vajpayee government at the Centre, and she played the role of the opposition leader in an extremely dignified and mature manner.
All the attacks on her for being a foreigner was orchestrated by some people driven by political vendetta or political jealousy. But that did not last long because people did not see her as a foreigner.
When we won the election the first time under her leadership, she announced very categorically that she did not want to be the Prime Minister. That was very disappointing for a lot of us, but it earned her a lot of admiration. Here was a lady who had worked so hard for the election victory, and now she just did not want power. There were people who were worshipping her for this decision. I had faith in her and in her capacity to judge a situation, and in her strong sense of what is right and wrong. She never had a conversation about this with us, she may have spoken to her family members. I was the chief minister of Delhi at the time, when she made that announcement. I remember at that moment, all our hearts sank.
Even after her announcement, her concern was always for India and the people of India. She kept out of cabinet meetings. But the farmers’ yojana, the Right to Information were all her ideas. Most of the policy matters had her clear stamp of approval.
She was able to resurrect the party successfully precisely because she was not hunting for power, that she made the sacrifice to keep the Congress together. The public and political acceptance of Sonia Gandhi was extraordinary.
I don’t think she ever made an error of judgment. She understands the aspirations of the people of India more than many Indians do.
Even when the Congress party was going through its setbacks in UPA II, she supported former PM Manmohan Singh. By the time of the elections of 2014, we all felt we were not on a strong wicket. Later, she was beginning to feel tired of it all, having been there for 19-20 years, but the Congress party held on, we didn’t want her to go. She brought this sense of confidence and comfort for all of us.
I’ve never had conversations with Sonia Gandhi on Modi. But I can say she must be thinking what we are all thinking. And that is: Yes, Modi is a great talker, but the same cannot be said of his actions. Sometimes the purpose of his actions are not known. For instance, even today there are question marks on the purpose of demonetisation.
Congress has not given up, Sonia Gandhi has not given up. There have been moments like these before. Out of 70 years, Congress has ruled for 60 years. What more do you want in a democracy?
Sheila Dikshit is the former chief minister of Delhi and a senior Congress party leader.
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