No Congress leader has ever spoken of 1947 and 1984 in the same vein and Sonia could thus have a major debate on her hands in the coming days. Speaking at a Sikh function in Hindi, from a prepared text, she also stressed her ``heartfelt anguish'' over the '84 riots and how she and her family were keen to ``re-establish bonds'' with the Sikhs. But she stopped short of a formal apology on an issue of immense significance.

Sonia was speaking as chief guest at a function organised by the National Sikh Council, celebrating Guru Nanak's birth anniversary, an event which was widely looked forward to. There was high expectation on what line Sonia would articulate on the Sikh issue which has yet again occupied centrestage in light of the November 25 elections to fourstates.

Over 500 people had gathered at the FICCI auditorium and in her eight-minute speech, which began with a long sigh, Sonia appeared clearly uncomfortable at having to go over the sensitive issue once more. Months ago, in a speech in Chandigarh, she had expressed regret that thousands of Sikh lives were lost in the riots after Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards.

Today, she went a step ahead. ``The Sikh community has been in the forefront of the country's defence and agriculture and has won deserved praise for their hard work in other areas like industry and for their sacrifices. But they have also faced a lot of trauma. The Sikh community had to bear the brunt of the tragedy of Partition with thousands of them killed.

``Even some years ago, they had face a similar kind of trauma. As far as the 1984 riots go, I have already expressed my regrets in Chandigarh. I want to assure all of you that my regret is from the heart and I stick by it. Such tragic events should never takeplace. I am glad that you (the Sikhs) have risen over the bitterness and tragedy of those years and are looking to the future. As far as me and my family is concerned, we want to re-establish our bonds with the Sikh community like in the past,'' she said in what was the most crucial part of her address.

It was a most interesting and crucial stance from Sonia on the Sikh issue. By equating the 1984 riots with the Partition, she has sought to convey that the '84 riots were as uncontrollable as the Partition tragedy and that the Congress had no role in fanning both tragedies. By doing so, Sonia is also seeking to rid her party of the stigma of having gone around plotting and killing Sikhs in what amounted to mass murder.

The first step was the regret in Chandigarh, in itself something her predecessors had not done. And now comes the equating of the anti-Sikh pogrom with Partition.

No Congress president has ever done this before, nor even anyone from the Nehru-Gandhi family. It marks a radical shift in theCongress stance on the '84 riots and could lead to a fair amount of debate.

The other interesting thing Sonia did was to speak of ``her family''. It is a clear indication that she doesn't want the '84 issue to stick on to Priyanka or Rahul the way it has to her. In short, she went as far as she could without using the word apology.

Her speech comes in the wake of criticism from her party member S S Ahluwalia on the Congress's giving important election roles to H K L Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler and Dharam Dass Shastri in the Delhi election. All of them are alleged to have played a role in the anti-Sikh riots which they have denied.

Sonia skirted the whole tumult over the infamous foursome but the impact of her address is unclear.

At the same venue, she was handed over a memorandum by a member of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee asking her to drop the four leaders from the Congress. The controversy, it appears, will stay for a while.