Sonia will have to put spine into PM, heal FM-Chidu rift

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who returned to Delhi early on Thursday morning after being away for more than a month for a surgery, could not have chosen more challenging circumstances to mark her homecoming. Her government and the Congress party have stumbled from one crisis to another in her absence. The events of the past few weeks, during which the UPA government committed a series of blunders while handling Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption agitation, have forced many analysts and political observers to reassess both the importance as well as the political savvy of Mrs Gandhi. Her immediate challenges are to give the UPA a facelift, prop Manmohan Singh’s stature, paper over the Pranab Mukherjee-P Chidambaran divide and mentor Rahul Gandhi. But the big question really is whether or not Sonia has recovered fully and is fit enough to take up these challenges. There is simply no information on how well she is and how much more time it will take for her to recuperate and take on her daily dose of engagements. Party spokesperson and general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi issued a one-line statement on her return saying Sonia Gandhi is back and that she is fine. All we know is that Sonia was at New York’s Sloan Kettering Cancer Cente r for treatment, but not what ails her. [caption id="" align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Sonia’s return, in whatever state of health, could make a difference to the Congress party and the UPA’s fortunes.Reuters”][/caption] Surely we can have a little more disclosure on the health and well-being of  the most influential, relevant and powerful person in the world’s biggest democracy! But one thing is clear: her return, in whatever state of health, could make a difference to the Congress party and the UPA’s fortunes. For years, many political observers rubbished all talk of Sonia Gandhi possessing any political acumen and chose to describe her mostly as a dumb doll (remember, her critics even referred to Indira Gandhi as “gungi gudiya”!) who reigned because of the mutual jealousies and insecurities of Congress leaders who could not stomach the idea of any one of them becoming the first amongst equals. The bickering all but cemented the almost authoritarian high command culture which prevails in the party, demanding complete loyalty to the Gandhi family. But events of the past few weeks should establish Sonia Gandhi’s political credentials even in the eyes of her worst critics. The party think-tank, core group and her inner circle of party leaders, on whom she is supposed to depend for guidance and advice when confronted with a tricky situation, were all here in Delhi when the Anna crisis exploded. But the UPA all but unravelled while trying one clumsy trick after another in its bid to somehow neutralise the redoubtable anti-grafts crusader. Sonia Gandhi’s was the only input which was missing during those crisis-filled days during which the UPA top brass made a complete fool of itself. Unless there was an unlikely and devious conspiracy to make everyone else look stupid just so that the absentee Mrs Gandhi looked intelligent, the conclusion is fairly straightforward: that Sonia’s is the political, sensitive and deft hand on the deck without whom the Congress ship looks vulnerable in rough weather. So what are the big issues Sonia needs to grapple with at the soonest. One of her priorities should be to inject a sense of purpose and vitality in this government. Team Manmohan looks like a defeated, dejected and demoralised lot that is simply going through the motions of governance. There is also too much of a drift and divisions within the government, particularly between the two key ministries of finance and home. The Prime Minister just does not have the stature or the political authority to make Pranab Mukherjee and Chidambram sit and have a man to man talk and bury the hatchet. Sonia Gandhi can even go a step further if she so decides and read the riot act to two of the most senior and accomplished ministers in UPA-2. Sonia’s touch is also required for managing relationships with key UPA allies. The manner in which Mamata Banerjee defied and embarrassed the Prime Minister in the run-up to the Dhaka visit is not a good omen for the future of the Trinamool-Congress relationship. Sonia also needs to press ahead with some serious efforts to try and give UPA-2 an image makeover - if possible. Not even half way through its second tenure, the UPA looks like a battered unit which is slipping badly in the battle for public perceptions. She needs to get a grip over the party and government affairs and somehow administer a booster dose for instilling self-belief and confidence amongst her colleagues. Somebody also needs to lead the Congress from the front in this time of crisis when the opposition looks charged up and more fighting fit than the governing party. There is also need to work on the Congress party heir apparent and her son, Rahul, who needs to play a much more active role in the near future if the party has to give a good account of itself in the 2014 elections. Rahul did not exactly cover himself with glory in the time that Sonia was away these past few weeks.