ASIA	JANUARY 12, 1998 VOL. 151 NO. 1
	A Family Affair On the eve of a national election, Rajiv Gandhi's widow, Sonia, rides to the rescue of India's ailing Congress Party By MASEEH RAHMAN /NEW DELHI he white knight who came to the aid of India's Congress Party last week was at once surprising and inevitable. With the party mired in one of the worst slumps of its 112-year history, yet another member of the Nehru-Gandhi family dynasty emerged as its potential savior. This time it was Sonia, widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The party suddenly found itself again with a charismatic leader, who hopes to tap into the political magic of her dynastic forbearers: Jawaharlal Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv. Congress loyalists are counting on Sonia Gandhi, 51, to breathe new life into the party, which has been rudderless since suffering a painful defeat in parliamentary elections 19 months ago. "Sonia Gandhi's decision has enthused, inspired and electrified the Congress," gushes party spokesman V.N. Gadgil. "She's a charismatic personality and a big crowd-puller." She arrives just in time to lead the Congress campaign as it prepares for yet another Indian national election. The collapse of New Delhi's multi-party coalition government late last year necessitated a snap parliamentary poll, scheduled to start next month. Before Sonia Gandhi appeared, there were widespread fears that Congress was hurtling toward another election disaster, or even extinction. Now, however, she has fulfilled the long-held hopes of the party faithful in deciding to give up her life of seclusion and campaign for the Congress. Throughout India, party workers took to the streets to celebrate. Outside her well-guarded house in New Delhi, men and women sang and danced for two days. "Sonia Gandhi, come forward!" the crowd shouted. The Nehru-Gandhi family continues to stir political passions, even if its appeal has diminished in recent years. Voters, especially the rural poor, still trust the name, a fact borne out in a recent opinion poll by the weekly India Today. Although the survey was done before Sonia Gandhi announced her decision to enter active politics, she finished second after Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the people's choice for prime minister. Neither Sonia Gandhi's Italian origin, nor her total lack of experience in politics, nor even her reluctance to hold office, seems to matter much. What matters is her connection with the Nehru-Gandhi family. Ever since Rajiv's assassination in Tamil Nadu more than six years ago, Sonia Gandhi's conduct has helped create the image of a dignified widow concerned with upholding the legacy of her late husband's family. She spurned offers to head the party immediately after the killing, and busied herself with overseeing the welfare and other activities of a trust named after Rajiv. She spoke little publicly, and never on politics, yet closely monitored and influenced Congress affairs by meeting party leaders privately. Her friends say she is a voracious reader and is blessed with an excellent memory, which has helped her pick up half a dozen languages, including Hindi. Despite frequent demands from followers, she has neither made a bid for party leadership nor indicated any interest in becoming prime minister if the Congress should return to power. The Congress that Sonia Gandhi will campaign for is very different from the party her mother-in-law presided over. It is no longer an umbrella organization for disparate castes, communities and classes. Top-level squabbling and the mishandling of some important issues (such as the deadly dispute among Hindus and Muslims over a place of worship in Ayodhya) has led to a collapse of the party's power in important states such as Uttar Pradesh, home province of the Nehru-Gandhi family. February's election promises to be a critical test of the family's appeal; some believe it may be too late even for Sonia Gandhi to engineer a Congress victory. "The time for dynastic leadership having an appeal has passed," says Francine Frankel, India specialist at the University of Pennsylvania. "So many of the disadvantaged social groups which were part of the Congress have broken away and formed their own parties." But Sonia Gandhi's presence could be enough to shake up the political landscape. In the 1996 elections, though the Congress won fewer seats than the BJP, it won a higher percentage of votes. Party strategists believe Sonia Gandhi will attract more support, and that her status atop the campaign will inspire some of the newer, regional parties to join with the Congress. The BJP still has a trump card in the popular Vajpayee, its candidate for prime minister. In the Congress, most such hopefuls suffer sullied reputations and limited appeal--with the exception of former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh. At the very least, Sonia Gandhi's emergence should juice up Indian politics. The BJP, instead of running a staid campaign promising stable government, now has to rake up contentious issues--corruption scandals involving Rajiv Gandhi, his widow's foreign origins--to counter her appeal. Having exerted political influence from behind the scenes, Sonia Gandhi must now come center stage to test her claim as the inheritor of the family legacy. "She's taking a tremendous risk," says Indian sociologist M.N. Srinivas. "If she fails, it's the end of a political dynasty."
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