Sonia Gandhi and the Coming of Age of the Indian Nation

I write this at a time when the issue of her ’foreign origin’ has led to a lot of uncertainty over Sonia Gandhi becoming the next prime Minister of India. At the outset, I would like to make it clear that I am no diehard supporter of the Congress party, which Sonia Gandhi represents. Nor did I vote for her or for her party.

By the time this goes into print, perhaps we would have arrived at a clearer picture; but nevertheless, there are concerns and issues that would remain. Whichever way it goes.

In short, the story of India’s 2004 elections can be summed up in a few sentences-
1.Rejection of incumbency in most of the states
2.Acceptance of Sonia Gandhi as the leader of the Congress party by the people of India
3.Hard work and intense campaigning by Sonia Gandhi which showcased her as being closer to the pulse of the people, aided in no small measure by overconfidence in the BJP ranks, resulting in a swing in the favour of the congress.
4.The moral mandate, as given by the people of India, has been against the ruling BJP and ALSO (to a lesser extent perhaps, but nevertheless) for the Sonia Gandhi led Congress.

Now, in the natural scheme of things, one would expect the leader of the largest party to take over as the Prime Minister. Sure enough, the Congress party elects Sonia Gandhi as the leader of the CLP (Congress legislature party). Some of the allies accept her, some others grudgingly give their nod with their own set of strings. And then we have the likes of Sushma Swaraj: know her? She is the woman Sonia Gandhi defeated in the Parliamentary elections from Bellary, Karnataka a few years ago. And from the looks on Swaraj’s face on TV the past few days, the Star-Plus soap opera type emotions of envy, jealousy and REVENGE are unmistakable. Yesterday, Swaraj threatened to have her head shaved off and move around in white robes as a mark of protest against Sonia becoming the Prime Minister. Swaraj, of course, is not alone in theatrics. There are others, some threatening self-immolation, some boycott, some calling it the ’darkest day in Indian history’ and the like.

The issue, of course, is a person of ’foreign origin’ becoming the Prime Minister of India. And the Indian polity appears sharply split on this count.

Arguments are flying thick and fast on both sides. The one in favour of Sonia says she is an Indian citizen, enjoys the same fundamental rights as any other citizen, and she has earned the right to be the Prime Minister. Another argument, the ’birds of a feather’ argument, says that all politicians are corrupt and incompetent, and Sonia can’t possibly be worse. Arguments against Sonia talk of not even one in a billion ‘Indians’ being fit to be PM so much so that we had to make a foreigner the PM, Sonia’s reluctance to take up Indian citizenship for 15 years after marriage, slogans like VANDE-MATA-ROME, national shame and embarrassment.

Those are the arguments flying about in political and intellectual circles.

However, I think that the Indian masses have very clearly expressed their YES to Sonia becoming the Prime minister given the way they voted. That I believe counts for the biggest authority in the land. Vox populi, after all, is Vox deo.

In doing so, the masses have shown their encompassing, liberal and democratic orientation; it needs to be appreciated that on a scale, diversity and contrast like that of India, its not easy at all. As outgoing Prime Minister Vajapyee put it on the day of the results, the mandate has been defeat for his alliance, but a victory for India and its institution of democracy.

I am one of those who prides on India’s liberal-democratic institutions and values, and for me, any other Prime Minister other than Sonia as a result of THIS mandate of the 2004 elections would be tantamount to cheating the electorate and sacrificing their will at the altar of backroom manipulations, all under a cloak of chauvinism and ’national pride’.

I hope that Sonia becomes the Prime Minister, so that the mandate of the electorate is respected. Arguments like the return of imperialism hold little water by way of logic or fact in this globalized, aware and connected world. If Sonia does manage to become numero uno, far from being the darkest day in our country’s history, it would be a reaffirmation of the maturity of our democracy and the ’coming of age’ for the Indian nation.