NEW DELHI, Jan 18: For a brief moment, it was as if Indira Gandhi had come alive -- the same brisk walk, the business-like wave, the imperious survey of the crowd. A flash of deja vu which faded as soon as Sonia Gandhi opened her mouth. But her debut on the Indian political stage last week proved that the Italian-born daughter-in-law of the Nehru-Gandhi household has learnt her lessons well.As she began her Odyssey through the State capitals to bolster the sagging fortunes of the Congress, Sonia cast aside her chic social image to don the persona of Indiramma. From the cut of the sari blouse to the neatly-pleated folds of her sari pallav to the mannish watch on her wrist, the Indira-isation of Sonia was too obvious to be missed.
Old-timers on the Indira circuit recall how meticulously the slain Prime Minister used to plan her visits to different regions. A sentence or two in the local lingo, an old memory, something to establish a personal link with her audience. Indira used symbols deliberately and
extensively, crafting an idiom of political theatre which Sonia seems to be emulating consciously.
Thus, in Sriperumbudur, her first stop, mother and daughter wore glowing Kancheepuram silks and Priyanka cunningly appealed for votes in chaste Tamil. In Bangalore, Sonia donned Karnataka silk and began her speech with Shankranti greetings in Kannada, taking care to remind the crowd of the family's long association with the State. In Andhra, it were the poignant memories of Medak (Indira Gandhi's Lok Sabha seat till her death) and Rajiv's last halt in the coastal region before his assassination.
Like Indira, the theme of Sonia's speeches was carefully nuanced, the issue matching the audience and locale. If in Bangalore, it was Bofors, in Hyderabad with its predominantly Muslim population, it was the demolition of the Babri Masjid and in Kochi, where women outnumber men and female literacy is the highest in the country, it was women's empowerment and gender equality.
But perhaps the most significant Indira
touch to Sonia's campaign was the throwback to the Garibi Hatao slogan which captured the public imagination in the early seventies. It has been a long time since a Congress leader made poverty alleviation a poll plank. Not Narasimha Rao, not even Rajiv.
Shrewdly, Sonia seems to have sensed that whatever achievements the Congress may have to boast about are linked largely to Indira's golden period. Rajiv's tenure was mired in the Bofors scandal which overshadowed his 21st century dream package. By resurrecting slogans that are nearly three decades old, Sonia obviously hopes that the harking back to the glorious days will blur the failures that have led to the decline of the Congress.
Her late husband is her passport to active politics but her political idiom and body language are borrowed from her late mother-in-law. And she has gone the whole hog in imitating her role model, right down to the touch of paranoia, the everyone-is-after-me persecution syndrome, that used to colour Indira's speeches.
Only
time will tell, of course, whether Sonia has the daring and manipulative skills of her mother-in-law to turn around the failing fortunes of the Congress and meet the challenge of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
So far, she has revealed herself as a formidable opponent by virtually hijacking the agenda of these elections. But does history have place for another Indira, especially when it is not the real thing?
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
