It will be exactly 25 years on Tuesday, March 14th when Sonia Gandhi took over as the president of the Congress, shortly after her supporters led by Makhan Lal Fotedar dislodged Sitaram Kesri, as the chief of the grand old party. A distraught Kesri had warned Fotedar that “agar aap ne mujh se kuch manga hota, to mein zaroor karta, lekin yeh mahila aap ko kuch bhi nahin de gi’’ (If you had asked me for anything I would have complied but this lady would do nothing for you). Kesri’s words were prophetic and Fotedar despite his loyalty to the Gandhis was never rewarded for all he did for her at that juncture and later. It was on March 13th, 1998, which was Feroze Varun Gandhi’s birthday, that a nervous Sonia rehearsed her speech, probably written by Janardhan Dwivedi at 10 Janpath in the presence of her daughter, Priyanka and nephew. On the next day, she drove into 24 Akbar Road to take over the reins of the party, a momentous occasion. The Congress was out of power though it had helped in the appointment of both H.D.Deva Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujaral as Prime Ministers by offering outside support. The cadres were demoralized and the BJP was on a high. However, soon after Sonia was appointed the party chief, the complexion changed. There were celebrations and to begin with in November/December, 1998, the Congress won in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. There was no looking back and the Congress marched forward with Sonia as the mascot and the custodian of the legacy of the Gandhi’s. There was a challenge offered when three of her colleagues questioned her foreign origin but she moved from strength to strength and in 2003 at the Shimla conclave invited opposition parties opposed to the BJP and NDA to assist the Congress to dislodge the Saffron Brigade from power. This was achieved in 2004 and besides the Centre, the Congress was soon in power in nearly 14 to 15 States. It was the high point of her political innings and she regularly inter-acted with workers from to block and district levels. Many of her supporters wanted her to be the Prime Minister but because of multiple reasons, well known in political circles, she opted out of the race and nominated Dr Manmohan Singh as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the UPA. The government moved from strength to strength and was re-elected in 2009. Sonia had gained in political stature and was ably assisted by Ahmed Patel in particular and Ambika Soni besides many others in her political journey. After 2009, there was a transformation and her sole aim appeared to be to get Rahul Gandhi up the political ladder. This was an uphill task and in addition, the Congress was accused of big corruption following the 2G scam and many other scandals. The perception was gaining that the Congress was anti-Hindu and pro minorities, something which ensured the party rout in 2014 and again in 2019. Around 2017, Sonia stepped down and allowed Rahul to become the Congress president, something which ended with her resignation following the 2019 defeat. She was again officially back in the saddle as the interim chief till Malikkarjun Kharge was elected late last year as the Congress president. Although he is the boss, she is still the high command being the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Party. Had Sonia accepted the Prime Minister’s position? She may have been probably the weakest head of government of India ever had. However, history would always remember her as the strongest and most influential Congress president ever. Sonia has witnessed both the rise and decline of the grand old party.
There are enormous challenges ahead and many believe that she would be out of electoral politics in 2024 and instead of her, daughter, Priyanka may contest from Rae Bareilly. However, no one knows what the future holds for her or her party? The unassuming and shy person as she was portrayed once, she steered her party through various ups and downs, while maintaining status quo on most occasions and by relying heavily on her own instinct besides that of her close aides. Many of her advisers are in another world and the party does not have their counsel anymore. Nevertheless, there is no dearth of talent in this party which first and foremost needs to strengthen its organization base which became weaker and weaker while she was in office. The party must reclaim its original vote base of Brahmins, Dalits and Muslims, if it has to pose any challenge to the BJP, Narendra Modi has his finger on the pulse of the people and Sonia realizes that. It is a Herculean task from now onwards as the silver jubilee of her being in visible public life is observed on Tuesday.