When the Delhi High Court declined to exempt Congress Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi from personal appearance in a trial court in the National Herald case, the Congress announced on Monday that it would challenge the order in the Supreme Court the next day.
The party’s spokespersons also provided details of the case to reiterate that there was no merit in the allegations that the Congress leaders illegally acquired property worth Rs. 5,000 crore belonging to the National Herald newspaper.
This was a clear signal that the Congress intended to pursue this matter legally as it has been doing so far.
But by Tuesday morning, the party had changed tack. Instead of seeking relief from the apex court, the Congress shifted gears and decided to make this a political fight. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, it was announced, will appear in court on December 19.
Vendetta allegations
At the same time, angry Congress MPs staged noisy protests in Parliament ensuring that no business could be transacted in the two Houses while the party leadership cried “political vendetta”. The Bharatiya Janata Party leaders hit back and asked the Congress leaders to face the courts, setting the stage for a long and bitter confrontation between the ruling alliance and the principal opposition party.
This change in strategy came about only after Sonia Gandhi stepped in to take charge of the battle. It was on her instructions that Congress members went on the offensive. Sonia Gandhi has obviously taken a leaf from her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi’s book who had similarly agreed to a personal appearance in court when the Janata Party government launched a series of cases against her in 1977. Like Indira Gandhi, Sonia has decided to derive maximum political mileage from this adverse situation by accusing her opponents of persecuting her.
Just back after her medical check-up in the US, Sonia Gandhi struck an aggressive note when confronted with the latest developments in the National Herald case. "I was asked in the morning by your colleague if I was afraid. I replied that I am the daughter-in-law of Mrs Indira Gandhi and I am not afraid of anybody or anything," the Congress president told NDTV.
Rahul Gandhi was equally combative when he described these developments as a case of “political vendetta". "This is the way the union government tries to silence me. It will not happen and I will continue to ask questions and put pressure on the government," he declared.
Opposition support
Sonia Gandhi’s action even got support from other opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is presently in Delhi, said she did not think it was right to ask Sonia and Rahul Gandhi to appear personally in court and that it was the democratic right of the Congress to lodge its protest in Parliament. Other opposition leaders said their response would have been no different if they were in Sonia Gandhi’s place.
The manner in which events unfolded after Monday’s court verdict has only shown that Sonia Gandhi remains indispensable to the party. The Congress needs her at the helm and relies on her to take charge in case of a crisis.
Keen to hand over the party’s responsibilities to Rahul Gandhi, the Congress president has maintained a low profile since the Congress vice-president returned from his 56-day sabbatical earlier this year in a new, more decisive avatar. But she is forced to step out in times of trouble because she has the authority and the credibility to lead the party to battle.
She had done the same when Rahul Gandhi was away on his sabbatical. Realising that the party rank and file was feeling bereft, she had taken charge and led a march of representatives of ten opposition parties from the Parliament House to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to lodge their protest against the Modi government’s decision to amend the land acquisition Bill. It was Sonia Gandhi who took the initiative in opposing this contentious legislation. Rahul Gandhi carried this battle forward.
This instance has also demonstrated how Sonia Gandhi has honed her political instincts over the years. These were on display in 2006 when the United Progressive Alliance government was rocked by the office of profit controversy. In a dramatic move, Sonia Gandhi resigned her Lok Sabha seat and hit the dusty streets of her constituency Rae Bareli to declare that she was being targeted by her political rivals.
Evoking Indira
Although Sonia Gandhi makes a conscious effort to emulate her mother-in-law, even invoking her name as she did today, she is not in the same league as Indira Gandhi. Nevertheless, she has come a long way since those turbulent days in 1998 when she dislodged Sitaram Kesri as Congress president in what has come to be known as unseemly chapter in the party’s history. She was once dismissed as a “mere housewife” by CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu. Her own party member Jairam Ramesh described her as the Congress party’s Rabri Devi. And hardened journalists wrote derisively about the inexperienced “phoren bahu” being pushed into the hurly burly of Indian politics by fawning Congress courtiers.
But Sonia Gandhi’s critics did not realise “the stuff she is made of”, as she once said. Untutored in politicis, Sonia Gandhi was initially hesitant and tentative. But she learnt fast on the job. She has since shed her initial reticence, consolidated her hold over the party and led the Congress to two Lok Sabha victories after a prolonged spell in the wilderness. Even her most bitter critics grudgingly acknowledge that she has developed a great instinct for survival.
But now that the party has slumped to its lowest tally in the Lok Sabha and faces a series of political and legal challenges, the Congress cadres are depending on precisely this survival instinct of Sonia Gandhi to pull them out of the present mess.
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The party’s spokespersons also provided details of the case to reiterate that there was no merit in the allegations that the Congress leaders illegally acquired property worth Rs. 5,000 crore belonging to the National Herald newspaper.
This was a clear signal that the Congress intended to pursue this matter legally as it has been doing so far.
But by Tuesday morning, the party had changed tack. Instead of seeking relief from the apex court, the Congress shifted gears and decided to make this a political fight. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, it was announced, will appear in court on December 19.
Vendetta allegations
At the same time, angry Congress MPs staged noisy protests in Parliament ensuring that no business could be transacted in the two Houses while the party leadership cried “political vendetta”. The Bharatiya Janata Party leaders hit back and asked the Congress leaders to face the courts, setting the stage for a long and bitter confrontation between the ruling alliance and the principal opposition party.
This change in strategy came about only after Sonia Gandhi stepped in to take charge of the battle. It was on her instructions that Congress members went on the offensive. Sonia Gandhi has obviously taken a leaf from her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi’s book who had similarly agreed to a personal appearance in court when the Janata Party government launched a series of cases against her in 1977. Like Indira Gandhi, Sonia has decided to derive maximum political mileage from this adverse situation by accusing her opponents of persecuting her.
Just back after her medical check-up in the US, Sonia Gandhi struck an aggressive note when confronted with the latest developments in the National Herald case. "I was asked in the morning by your colleague if I was afraid. I replied that I am the daughter-in-law of Mrs Indira Gandhi and I am not afraid of anybody or anything," the Congress president told NDTV.
Rahul Gandhi was equally combative when he described these developments as a case of “political vendetta". "This is the way the union government tries to silence me. It will not happen and I will continue to ask questions and put pressure on the government," he declared.
Opposition support
Sonia Gandhi’s action even got support from other opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is presently in Delhi, said she did not think it was right to ask Sonia and Rahul Gandhi to appear personally in court and that it was the democratic right of the Congress to lodge its protest in Parliament. Other opposition leaders said their response would have been no different if they were in Sonia Gandhi’s place.
The manner in which events unfolded after Monday’s court verdict has only shown that Sonia Gandhi remains indispensable to the party. The Congress needs her at the helm and relies on her to take charge in case of a crisis.
Keen to hand over the party’s responsibilities to Rahul Gandhi, the Congress president has maintained a low profile since the Congress vice-president returned from his 56-day sabbatical earlier this year in a new, more decisive avatar. But she is forced to step out in times of trouble because she has the authority and the credibility to lead the party to battle.
She had done the same when Rahul Gandhi was away on his sabbatical. Realising that the party rank and file was feeling bereft, she had taken charge and led a march of representatives of ten opposition parties from the Parliament House to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to lodge their protest against the Modi government’s decision to amend the land acquisition Bill. It was Sonia Gandhi who took the initiative in opposing this contentious legislation. Rahul Gandhi carried this battle forward.
This instance has also demonstrated how Sonia Gandhi has honed her political instincts over the years. These were on display in 2006 when the United Progressive Alliance government was rocked by the office of profit controversy. In a dramatic move, Sonia Gandhi resigned her Lok Sabha seat and hit the dusty streets of her constituency Rae Bareli to declare that she was being targeted by her political rivals.
Evoking Indira
Although Sonia Gandhi makes a conscious effort to emulate her mother-in-law, even invoking her name as she did today, she is not in the same league as Indira Gandhi. Nevertheless, she has come a long way since those turbulent days in 1998 when she dislodged Sitaram Kesri as Congress president in what has come to be known as unseemly chapter in the party’s history. She was once dismissed as a “mere housewife” by CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu. Her own party member Jairam Ramesh described her as the Congress party’s Rabri Devi. And hardened journalists wrote derisively about the inexperienced “phoren bahu” being pushed into the hurly burly of Indian politics by fawning Congress courtiers.
But Sonia Gandhi’s critics did not realise “the stuff she is made of”, as she once said. Untutored in politicis, Sonia Gandhi was initially hesitant and tentative. But she learnt fast on the job. She has since shed her initial reticence, consolidated her hold over the party and led the Congress to two Lok Sabha victories after a prolonged spell in the wilderness. Even her most bitter critics grudgingly acknowledge that she has developed a great instinct for survival.
But now that the party has slumped to its lowest tally in the Lok Sabha and faces a series of political and legal challenges, the Congress cadres are depending on precisely this survival instinct of Sonia Gandhi to pull them out of the present mess.