"What walks on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs at dusk?" was the famous question posed by the Sphinx. The answer, as Oedipus figured out, was Man. A modern Sphinx may pose a more contemporary question: "What stands on its feet in the morning, sinks to its knees by noon, and crawls abjectly on its belly at dusk?"The answer is a Congressman. And if you doubt that, pray spend five minutes outside 10, Janpath. Ever since Sonia Gandhi announced her decision to campaign, ecstatic partymen are falling over each other for the privilege of grovelling on her gravel. I don't blame them. Sonia Gandhi is definitely a far more attractive figure on the platform than Sitaram Kesri.
But isn't that like saying that Rabri Devi is more likeable than Laloo Prasad Yadav? If comparisons are to be made -- and they shall be made -- the benchmark won't be the men of straw in the Congress. Perhaps that is harsh on the Congress. Sonia Gandhi's arrival demonstrates that the Family can't take the
party for granted any more. So, instead of a discreet darshan, the standing of the Nehru-Gandhis shall be determined by the voter.
Once the initial euphoria dies down, Congressmen must ask themselves some questions. Does Sonia Gandhi possess an iota of the fabled family charisma? Can she whip Moopanar and Mamata Bannerjee back into the Congress pens? And are there any skeletons in the cupboards at 10, Janpath? The Congress is rightly wary of such queries. Which probably explains why they are doing two things: busily defending Sonia Gandhi against charges that were never raised in the first place, and making dishonest attacks on other parties.
How else do you explain the gratuitous remarks on Rome Raj vs Ramraj? Or the bald statements that she isn't a foreigner? Neither the BJP nor the United Front ever attacked the lady on such utterly silly grounds.
How about the other side of the coin, the Congress spokesman's famous questions to Vajpayee? What, for instance, does Gadgil mean by asking if the BJP
leader shares Guru Golwalkar's alleged view that minority communities are ``guests'' in this country? Gadgil should pose that question to his own leader. For 14 years after her marriage Sonia Gandhi was indeed a ``guest'' in India, refusing to renounce her Italian passport. But in this country we believe that atithi devo bhava. And the devi of 10, Janpath got concessions denied to mere mortals, including permission to work as an insurance agent and to hold a directorship in her brother-in-law's controversial Maruti project.
Those may be forgotten today, but there are other points on which Sonia Gandhi must break her silence. Let me enumerate those that come to mind. To begin with, what is her position on the investigation into her husband's assassination? When Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister, she expressed her ``anguish'' at a meeting in Amethi. But that speech and a written submission to the Jain Commission sum up her public comments.
India faces polls because of the Congress stance on the
Jain Commission's Interim Report. It is widely believed, not least by Congressmen, that the hardliners were encouraged by Sonia Gandhi. Shouldn't she tell us all precisely why Rs 1,000 crore must be spent on mid-term elections?
Secondly, why is she shying away from clearing the air once and for all on her relations with the Quattrocchi family? She can scarcely deny that they were close pals -- her Italian relatives used to stay with the Quattrocchis when they came to India. Nor can it be denied that Ottavio Quattrocchi and his wife both feature rather too prominently in the messy Bofors affair.
That scandal directly impinges on the reputation of the late Rajiv Gandhi. Surely honour demands that his widow explain how her Italian friends homed in into a deal between the Indian government and a Swedish manufacturer.
Thirdly, Sonia Gandhi has some explaining with regard to her own possessions. She is the chairperson and/or chief executive of several institutions with a net worth of several hundred
crores.
Take Jawahar Bhawan in the very heart of Delhi, to name but one piece of prime real estate now under Sonia Gandhi's stewardship. How did it ever come under her aegis? The land was given to the Congress by the Government of India on the specific understanding that the party vacated all the other bungalows -- a round dozen at last count -- that it occupies. Well, Jawahar Bhawan is a concrete reality today. Why then is the mighty AICC still housed in 24, Akbar Road? How did that glass and marble palace on Raisina Road end up as the preserve of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation?
Sonia Gandhi heads other bodies too, trusts in the name of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, for instance. Do they also own properties of equal magnificence? Shouldn't Sonia Gandhi deign to explain how much cash those trusts manage, the source of those funds, and the projects in which they are used? I am not, repeat not, asking the lady about her own personal property. Even Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity faces such
queries, so it isn't a question of any vendetta. These are simply routine questions put to any organisation working in the public domain.
If nothing else, the case of Jawahar Bhawan marks a break with family tradition. Motilal Nehru gave away Swaraj Bhawan and Indira Gandhi followed suit with Anand Bhawan. It definitely looks uncouth if a building named after Pandit Motilal's heir is wrested in the name of Indira's son.
But this seems to be the season for ignoring healthy precedents! Though Sonia Gandhi has agreed to campaign, the Congress has entered two caveats. First, she isn't going to be projected as the party candidate for Prime Minister. Second, she herself won't contest. This is a political scam. If the Congress gets votes in her name, it is she who has a mandate, not some dark horse. And if she goes to Race Course Road without entering the Lok Sabha, she continues the ``unhealthy precedent'' condemned by the Congress when it came to Deve Gowda and Gujral.
In his memoirs, Jawaharlal Nehru
expresses his annoyance at the backroom manoeuvres which brought him the Congress presidency. It was, he wrote, a ``trap-door entry''! In Sonia Gandhi's case, arriving on the platform may not be a trap-door as much as a trap. Thus far the Sphinx of 10, Janpath never faced embarrassing questions -- on the Quattrocchis and Jawahar Bhawan, or on Justice Jain's findings. Finding satisfactory answers to them will be tougher than figuring out the Sphinx's ancient riddle. And, as Dr Lohia pointed out 30 years ago, there is no Man in the Congress to help her out!
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
