DNA Edit: Still a Sonia Show

Politics can divide the closest of families and while there is nothing to suggest that there is any divide between Rahul and his mother Sonia, the younger Gandhi would surely not have been pleased at his mother upstaging him at one of the Grand Old Party’s most important events in recent time — the Congress plenary session.

Despite Rahul being made the Congress president and Sonia being dubbed as an “advisor” — a nomenclature which suggests that a person has all but retired from politics — the plenary session and its aftermath has all been the ‘Sonia Show.’ Rahul did speak on Sunday stating that “only the Congress can unite India,” but his words were largely lost on the party workers, the media, and the public at large. Yes, he did use some strong words against the BJP where he talked about how the saffron party was hurting the nation through “Gabbar Singh tax” while failing to concentrate on real issues but the attempt seemed forced. He also sought to whip up emotions by depicting the BJP and the RSS as power hungry Kauravas while the Congress were the Pandavas fighting for the truth, but the analogy did not work.

Congress, BJP, or otherwise, anyone who is in politics is in it for power and to blame the BJP or any political party for that seemed far fetched. More than Rahul, it was Sonia’s words that seemed to resonate with the Congress rank and file. Her attack on the BJP calling them “dramebaaz” and “arrogant” while reassuring party workers by telling them the Congress was a “movement” rather than just a party, Sonia showed everyone that the Grand Old Party was capable of giving a fight if guided right.  One does not have to be an expert to realise that this bodes ill for Rahul Gandhi’s political future.

Unlike Akhilesh who has emerged as a leader despite his failings, Rahul Gandhi has not and perhaps never will emerge from his parent’s shadow. It is one thing to have an image as a “reluctant politician” it is quite another to have an image of being an “incompetent” one. Yet by stealing the show from Rahul, Sonia, inadvertently or otherwise, managed to do just that. There is very little known about Sonia Gandhi but what is known is that she does not do or say anything publicly without a larger political motive. Sonia must have been aware that her presence carries weight and she must also have been aware that she has the charisma and connect that her son lacks. So she must have been aware that by speaking and appearing so publicly, her presence would overshadow her son’s at a time when he desperately needed to re-assert his authority post the North-East debacle. Is the son being “sacrificed” for the greater “political good?” Right now it seems so.