Sonai Gandhi pulls it off the second time around, and comes out smelling of roses. Forget what the political commentators say – talk to the rickshawalla and dukanwalla and the bai.This gives the family a great opportunity to leave Delhi and camp in UP. And by the way if 44 odd MP’s have to resign on the issue – it looks like a mid term poll. Which really may not be a bad thing for the Congress. And of course, [tag]Sonia Gandhi[/tag], private citizen can hit the campaign trail a whole lot earlier than the rest in Parliament. The BJP has come off looking like the Indian cricket team – snatching defeat from the jaws of victory – may be a new improved tactic would be not to get so personal and strident when dealing with Sonia Gandhi – especially if they don’t want to make a martyr of her.
A PoV
Harini Calamur's Writings
Sacrificing and Resigning has become the best tools to rake in more support and sympathy. I concocted a hypothetical news item from future to illustrate this.
http://sujaiblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/juanita-gandhi-resigns-again.html
The response of the common Indian is, as you have noted, again vastly different from from that of the cynical middle class- see much of desi blogs and they all seems to have contempt for Mrs Gandhi’s action.
More I think about it, more I feel that the Gandhi family, specially with Mrs Sonia Gandhi at the helm, is indispensable for the country. Mrs Gandhi has inherited some of Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy- the penchant to take, as Lenin once remarked, two steps backwards and one step forward. Whenever faced with the threat of an offensive from the British state, Mahatma Gandhi also withdrew, thereby ricocheting the offensive.
Mrs Gandhi has done the same- and doing it twice only should shame the Hindutva gang.
nothing but a gimmick to gain sympathy of the masses ….
bhupinder,
‘More I think about it, more I feel that the Gandhi family, specially with Mrs Sonia Gandhi at the helm, is indispensable for the country’
since 1989, the country hasn’t had a gandhi ruler.. except for some endurable catastrophes we haven’t actually plunged into anything resembling the apocalypse.. what makes you think sonia is indispensable? if you think anyone person is so very indispensable for this country, then you must also believe the corollary that this country isn’t worth much.in fact, it’s very dispensable…let’s disband this republic.
does that sound cynical?.. i think it follows the logic of your own conclusions.
and it’s your observation that all ‘common men’ think the same that’s cynical. you seem to think there can’t be any diversity of opinion among ‘common men’. that they are impressionable etc.,
Hi Sujai
It is easy to say – trick. but the fact reamains that no other political leader wants to quit.
Look at Advani – he would rather see his party torn apart than give up his post.
Look at Jaya Bachchan – crying and generally humiliating herself in public for a RS post.
I don’t buy your argumnent on resigning being the best tools for sympathy and support – if it were the case we would have a lot of others resigning.
Hi Bhupinder
I have a problem with the notion that ‘without the gandhi family, India is doomed’ just as i have a problem with the notion that ‘the gandhi family will doom india.’ India is too big, too old, too vast and too diverse to depend on one family.
I hope that we have gone past the “indira is india” period – I only hope that sonia gandhi encourages independence in the Congress Party. One person or a small group is not going to change the system. It has to be part of a bigger plan. And the Congress is just as bad as the rest in turning a blind eye to mis deeds.
so the congress leaders are saying Sonia Gandhi resigning is a good enuff example and the others dont need to resgn. Dude, how the hell is it then an example? When Gandhi takes up non violence or satyagrapha he doesnt say, its good enuff when i do these things, u guys can carry on with ur stuff. The way mainstream media has been making Sonia a sacrificing martyr is hilarious. Nobody is interested in asking tough questions. Ok, so she is not interested in power, so? Its not hard to imagine that there cud be someone like that. If she had full conviction in her actions then she shud not have discouraged her ministers from resigning. And just imagine what degree of sacrifice it wud have been. Giving up government for a principle. Historic. And hence she aint a mahatma, she’s just a slightly differently thinking creative politician.
“Resignation is an insult of parliament†Pt. Nehru said in Sept. 24, 1951
Drama in Loksabha on Sept. 24, 1951 and suggestion of Maier, a manager at France’s public utility EDF suited with Sonia’s resignation. Discovery of ‘Resign Renounce means profit without responsibility.
I recall drama that unfolded in Lok Sabha on September 24, 1951, Congress MP H G Mudgal resigned from what was then only a provisional Lok Sabha in a bid to pre-empt an expulsion motion moved against him by no less a person than Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
For, Congress MP H G Mudgal resigned from what was then only a provisional Lok Sabha in a bid to pre-empt an expulsion motion moved against him by no less a person than Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
The drama that unfolded in Lok Sabha on September 24, 1951, set a benchmark for the accountability of legislators. The House was due to pass the expulsion motion on the basis of a finding given by an ad hoc committee
At that time Pt. Nehru felt that Mudgal’s (Congress MP) resignation is an insult of the House. He said, “”Shri Mudgal deserved expulsion from the House and further that the terms of the resignation letter he gave to the deputy Speaker at the conclusion of his statement constitute a contempt of this House which only aggravate his offence†If Mudgal insulted the Parliament by his resignation, then how sonia’s resignation can be treated as honor of the parliament and an act of renounce?
Please allow me to remind a story posted by clarsonimus for comments in: http://hermann.blog.com/326932/:
“Resignation literature
Discovery of Laziness (Die Entdeckung der Faulheit). The French original is called Bonjour Paresse. It appears to be her current favorite work of resignation literature. I’ve met a number of natives who are really into these kinds of books these days. ………..She never complains. Maybe she did at first, but not now. She has resigned herself to the situation. She gets enough money from the state to get by on and finds an illegal little odd job on the side (Schwarzarbeit) now and then, whenever things get a little too tight. And she reads a lot. Resignation literature, mostly. She says it’s important for “her psychological make-up” or something. She now believes that employment, as we now know it, will soon be a thing of the past. ……….I told her as much. This got her quite animated and she suggested that I have a look at another one of her favorites. She went into her room and brought out something called The Art of Becoming Poor Stylishly (Kunst des stilvollen Verarmens). I promised her that I would read it the next chance I get. But I haven’t found the time to have a look at it just yet.â€
What readers have to say on Sonia’s art of Renounce and about the slogan:â€Garib ka haath, Congress ke saathâ€?
Incidently above story’s heroine is ‘Sonia’, whome I want to compare with our beloved Sonia Gandhi.
After revolutionizing employees’ attitudes in France, the German version of French political analyst and economist Corinne Maier’s “Die Entdeckung der Faulheit” (The Discovery of Laziness) debuts at number eight on the nonfiction list. Maier, a manager at France’s public utility EDF, makes her argument for a total change in employee attitude in the workplace. Instead of the all-encompassing engagement that defines most successful work ethics, Maier suggests workers actively distance themselves from their work to combat uncertainty in today’s world.
Uncomfortable allies shook hands to present BJP as Ghost before Muslim, and to shares power-bed with Congress. Now they all will be busy to fight each other in the coming assembly election.
Pseudo-Prime Minister & Pseudo-Parliament; Instability & Insecurity; Uncomfortable allies; Criminalization of Cabinet; War of Vengeance; Acts for vendetta; Dissidence brewing up ‘ Constitutional Terrorism & Demography changes are the introduction of Left supported UPA. Instability and Insecurity Arose You cannot run a government on hate and vendetta
http://www.sulekha.com/blogs/myblog.aspx?contributor=premendra%20agrawal
Kuffir/ Gargi,
There is little differnce between the mass of Congressmen and the BJP leaders. The fact remains that majority of lower to high level leaders from either party will switch to the party that has a chance of forming the government.
I may remind you of the mass exodus from the Congress to the BJP after the post- Narasimha Rao years in 1996-1998 when the Congress headed for defeat. Mr Rao, incidentally, fiddled as Ayodhya burnt.
Even in 2004, most of the Congress leaders, specially those in Madhya Pradesh, Gujrat and Rajasthan practically spoke the Hindutva language.
It was not Manmohan Singh or anyone else in the Congress but Mrs Sonia Gandhi who led the election fight for secularism and took the BJP head on.
A Hindutva India is, for me, a contradiction in terms. And frankly I do not see anyone except the Congress (with its many many warts and all) PLUS Mrs Gandhi able to take on the BJP and its allied forces. MINUS Mrs Gandhi, (and inshallah the Gandhis to come) the Congress is a moribund force, little more than the B team of the BJP.
I agree that it is not a good scenario for a country of over 1 billion to be dependent on one family.
I wish I had a better answer than looking upto one family, but I don’t see any other option.
bhupinder,
‘if you think anyone person is so very indispensable for this country, then you must also believe the corollary that this country isn’t worth much.in fact, it’s very dispensable…let’s disband this republic.’
you still haven’t responded to the queries i had raised in the above line.
also, you say :’Mr Rao, incidentally, fiddled as Ayodhya burnt.’ i think this tendency of some folks like you to find easy answers to some tough questions doesn’t help well-rounded debate.. how does the discovery of villains such as narasimha rao or heroines such as sonia gandhi help us stop events such as the ones you described? do you think that certain sections of the people of india had no role to play in the bringing down of the babri masjid? and certain sections in voting out the parivar at the centre?
Bhupinder
the last election was not about secularism – it was about the gap between what was promised economically and what was delivered.
As far as most of India is concerned the term secularism does not even feature in their dictionary. They are secular in action. The indian village – is generally secular. The bulk of rural India voted for the Congress because the NDA governemnt failed to deliver what was built up. And that was the fundamental mistake that the NDA government made – it built up the India Shining so much – that people looked at it and said – where is my share!!
If Sonia Gandhi really wants to make the difference – then she needs to put her party straight. Head to Head the Congress rank and file is as communal, as castiest, as capable of bigotry as any other party. Just look back to the Delhi riots after Indira Gandhi’s assination or the Nelli Massacre in Assam – to know what i mean.
HOwever, I buy your point that it is the lesser of two evils. Her task is to rectify that. And, its not going to be easy. Unfortunately the vote bank even at the individual or constituency level is split on these lines. And politicians of all hues cater to these vote banks. In the coming UP elections – where the Congress is defending some 17 odd seats – it hasn’t come up with a single agenda aprat from caste. Hopefully, Sonia will galvanize the party into action, but she will serve both the nation and her party if she moves them away from vote bank politics to issue based politics
Megha
it is indeed political sleight of hand. but in a nation were those on the gaddi stick to it, its a refreshing stance to take. No body else resigns 🙂
Sriram,
creative she definitely is. and the way the opposition is playing out its role – she can pull out the ‘mein abla aurat’ card very well. The sight of all these ugly men beating up on frail somia is a bit hard for the electorate to digest 🙂
Just like we have the call centre american accent english training classes, someone shud set up one hindi in delhi accent for Mrs. Gandhi. I tell you, 2 hours a day, for about 20 weeks, with added exercises like watching hindi films and she’l win more seats for congress.
Can u imagine a tamil mami becoming the CM of Maharshtra? Kapil Dev the Prime Minister of UK. Am not hinting at the politicial issue of indian hai ya foreigner, but just wondering how hard her PR people wud be working.
sriram
there is a kannadiga who is the CM of Tamil Nadu. before that MGR – who was mallu – ruled TN. there are half a dozen mp’s in the UK of indian origin. Their cricket captain for a time was of Indian origin.
What is a good hindi accent. I speak hindi with a mumbai /tam accent. am sure that other people have their own regional variations.
I really don’t think that the ‘foreigner’ issue exists anymore except in the minds of the sangh parivaar. As far as the electorate is concerned she is Indian. And she is – there is no detracting from that. If we question her Indianess, we probably will have to define ‘what is an Indian’ and that itself will take up the next few millenia 🙂
She will win more seats for congress if she has some better candidates. She needs to replicate the Jyotiraje Scindia, Milind Deora, rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot to all India.
Hmm, as i said before i have no questions about her Indianess. If our constitution says I am indian by birth and SOnia is indian by naturalisation, then of course both are Indian. I was just talking about the image issue, in the context of her brand image and personality and how much her incapacity to speak any indian langauge other than english (and i think english is very much an indian language) must be making her people work hard.
MGR really din have this problem – in fact he was in exactly the opposite or inverse situation – where altho a malayali, he cud not only speak Tamil he was the king of tamil cinema, same with Rajnikanth if he wants to be CM. Besides i wonder if a major percentage of their fans even knew about their backgrounds. Nasser Hussien gives you a perception that his family was brit since the time of queen victoria. Of course what I am talking abt is really old, but i was trying to look at it as a PR case study – the communication process issues. And the success of Sonia Gandhi will be a very unique case study in academics. It’s incredible.
As far as politics goes the BJP doesnt have enuff scoop and there arent several many grave things going agaisnt the incumbent. Yeh we need more guitar playing Milind Deoras in parliament.
completely.
the transformation of sonia gandhi is quite amazing. very very well handled.