The political era of Sonia Gandhi

As the curtains came down on the 19-year long presidency of Sonia Gandhi as Congress president, she will continue as chairman of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP).

There were speculations in the AICC headquarters that she would be hoisted to a sort of political chairman emeritus or patron of the party. The CPP decides the party's agenda in Parliament and formulates strategies with other opposition parties.

Insiders in the party said that the senior Gandhi had expressed her desire to retire from the party. But as political observers here believe, she is also known to spring surprises. If her successor was often described as the reluctant heir of the family, she was more reluctant to take up a political role.

Elected in 1998 as the party president, she held the post for almost 19 years— the longest period for any Congress president. She did not campaign in the recent Assembly elections first in Himachal Pradesh, and then in Gujarat due to health constraints, and it was Rahul who led a vigorous Congress campaign forcing Prime Minister Modi to engage in the Gujarat electioneering himself with some two dozen union ministers and five chief ministers.

Congress stalwarts Arun Nehru and Makhanlal Fotedar in their books have written that when they were pressing Rajiv Gandhi to occupy the Prime Minister's chair after the assassination of his mother Indira Gandhi, Sonia was reluctant and resisted his entry into the politics, fearful about her family's safety. She repeatedly turned down the offer to take charge of the party when her husband Rajiv was killed in 1991. But in 1998, when the party was in tatters and holding on to four states, she agreed to pick up the reins. Though Congress stock in the parliament came down in 1999, a year after she took over, but five years later in 2004, she stormed the party to victory, ousting the formidable National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

She presided three brainstorming sessions of the party that gave shape to its politics under her. The 1998 Pachmarhi brainstorming session decided that the party will reclaim the lost ground on its own and rejected to ally with other parties. 

Concerned about the 2002 Gujarat riots, she reversed the stand in 2003 at Shimla, where the party decided to explore an alliance with like-minded parties. The strategy backed by CPI (M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet won the party 2004 elections. In 2013, at the Jaipur brainstorming session, the party decided to make an outreach to the aspiring middle class, to go beyond its pro-poor reach. But in wake of anti-incumbency, the strategy failed.

In 2004, when it was certain that she would be the Prime minister but surprised all by choosing Manmohan Singh as the leader of the United Progressive Alliance government. Party leaders on Saturday hailed her leadership, understanding and stamina to outreach to cadres and leaders. They believe that her sharpest weapon was her silence. She spoke little, and seldom in public, but wielded enormous power in the Congress. UPA-1 and UPA II were fine examples of Sonia Gandhi's ability to bring non-BJP forces together.

She was first elected as an MP from Amethi in 1999, following which she became the Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House. She later shifted to Rae Bareli to accommodate her son in Amethi. Even when she refused to become the PM, she continued to wield power as the chairperson of the UPA and the leader of the Congress party in Parliament. As chairperson of National Advisory Council (NAC), she gave civil society members access within government and policy formations.

This was often dubbed as a "dual power centre" by the opposition. As its chairperson, Gandhi took up issues related to environment, gender, empowerment of the disadvantaged and right to information. At a personal level, Sonia Gandhi has authored two books on her husband, Rajiv and Rajiv's World, and has edited two volumes of letters exchanged between Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Her other interests include reading, Indian art -- contemporary, classical as well as tribal -- handloom and handicrafts and music. She has a diploma in conservation of oil paintings from the National Museum in New Delhi.