If there was ever a time for proving the axiom that politicians have never made
stranger bedfellows, this is it. Governance has come to a standstill. And we have been
forced to delay our issue yet again, reflecting the state of play in the political arena.
And as political parties have been unable to produce an alternative government within the
two-day deadline requested by Sonia Gandhi, the President was forced to extend it. This
has made it almost impossible for weekly publications to finalise their stories. Wild
speculation is the order of the day and analysis a nightmare as politicians change their
stands frequently. But Sonia Gandhi's
desperate bid for power, the subject of our cover story this week-twice in a row-is no
surprise to us. As far back as December 1996, we had predicted that this low-key resident
of 10 Janpath would make a high-profile bid for the party and for power. We wrote how
"Sonia is central to the Congress' plan to recast itself in the old Nehru-Gandhi
image" and that her "...process of involvement in Congress politics has already
begun. Aloofness have given way to access..."
Indira Gandhi has made the cover of India Today no less than
35 times, and Rajiv 17 times. This is Sonia's sixth appearance.
That is a lot, however, given the handful of months she has courted active politics. Last
week I had said how she must learn quickly to wheel and deal, forge alliances. She has
proved a quick learner. She has scurried to patch up a coalition by personally visiting a
number of political leaders who were hostile to her in the not-so-distant past. The very
private sphinx has become a very public aspirant for prime ministership. Our story records
her transformation during this no-holds-barred scramble for power, as the nation watches
with horror the paralysis of governance caused by self-serving politicians. This is a
charade they play out with depressing regularity, destroying without providing a viable
alternative-all at the nation's cost.
(Aroon Purie) |
