Smart Move ; in a Total Recall of Her 2004 Renunciation, the Congress President Resigns As Mp and Chairperson of the Nac, Pulling the Rug From Under the Opposition and Powering the Congress Into a Possible Mid-Term Poll.

India Today › March 27, 2006

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Summary

It was as if the clock had turned back to May 2004 when Congress President Sonia Gandhi renounced the prime minister's post. The hysterical crowds, the swaying flags, the readymade effigies, the instant slogans and the horde of television crews were back, jamming the road outside 10 Janpath. As the shouting brigade exhorted Sonia: Tum sangharsh karo, hum tumhare saath hain, effigies of BJP leader L.K. Advani, who had mounted the attack on the Congress in Parliament, were burnt as the twice-born Mother Sacrifice's devotees jostled for media attention. Their leader did not disappoint their need for drama. For the second time in less than two years, the Congress president played the martyr stroke, attempting to take the wind out of the Opposition sails, and setting the stage for a possible mid-term poll.

Just before 3 p.m. on Thursday, Sonia stepped outside her home, followed by a pensive Rahul. Daughter Priyanka Vadra watched from a distance as Sonia read a short statement in chaste Hindi. Attacking those who were suggesting that the Government and Parliament were being used to protect her, she reiterated what her "inner voice" had first said on that famous day in May. "I am in politics and public life not for my selfish ends," she said, announcing her resignation as member of the Lok Sabha and chairperson of National Advisory Council (NAC).

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Smart Move ; in a Total Recall of Her 2004 Renunciation, the Congress President Resigns As Mp and Chairperson of the Nac, Pulling the Rug From Under the Opposition and Powering the Congress Into a Possible Mid-Term Poll.

You could have said apres moi sycophancy. In a deluge, Congress MPs and ministers queued up to pay obeisance. Two even resigned. Karan Singh, Rajya Sabha member and chairperson of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, was the first to go. Gurudas Kamat, MP, Mumbai Northeast, was next. The myth-making was just beginning. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared Sonia had a "rare commitment to moral values wh...

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