Mrs G Part 2?. Review on Lok Sabha

Not quite. Throw a stone anywhere in this country and you will hit atleast a dozen Sonia-bashers. All the hype and hoopla about her so-called 'foreign origin' problem that has been doing the rounds of the media, sangh-parivar supporters and every one else who can have a take at the Gandhi family have even overshadowed the elections and the NDA governments achievements and losses. Is her nativity such a big issue? should she be made Prime Minister of one billion people? Everyone is entitled to his/her opinions, so let me state mine.

I remember reading an article in the Times of India (and I dont care or take seriously what comes in that crap they call a newspaper), showing the whole history of 'treason' of Signora Sonia Maino towards the Republic of India. It tells us that she married Rajiv Gandhi in 1963, became a citizen of India only in 1983, went to Italy during the war of 71, etc etc. And all of this true. It is a huge question: ''why she didnt become a citizen earlier?'' ''Why did she wait till 83?'' ''why did she abandon her country during the time of war?''

Try to think of this: Rajiv Gandhi never had had any ambition to join politics. Sanjay 'dashing' Gandhi was the natural choice for the successor to Indira Gandhi. Sonia must never had felt the necessity to take up Indian citizenship, back then. It is ridiculous to argue that once she has married Rajiv, she should have cut all her ties with her native land. After Sanjay Gandhi died in 1980, Rajiv, who was mainly flying around the world and looking after his family, with no interest whatsoever in politics, was dragged into the centrestage and was made the AICC Gen. Secretary. Only then, perhaps did it dawn on Sonia that she had to be a citizen of India, to be the wife of the future PM of India. The fact that she didnt take up citizenship earlier is indeed hard to forgive, but had Sanjay and Indiraji not died, no-one would know or have cared to know if she was an Indian citizen or not. This issue is simply another stick to beat the Gandhi family with. I dont think the Constitution makes any difference between home-grown or foreign-grown citizens

Back to that article. At the end, the author writes: ''Is this the woman who is going to live and die for India?''

This sentence takes the cake. It looks like everyone has decided that Sonia will die for India just like her husband and mother-in-law did. It also seems like that author and all those who tout this issue are ready to die for India on any given day. The blatant cry of the so-called 'shining leaders' that all Indians except Sonia are fearless patriots and if Sonia is given the PMship she will hand over the country in a platter to the ISI or CIA or The Pope or Don Corleone or whoever, is equally ridiculous.

In my opinion, Sonia is more Indian than anyone of them. When Rajiv was assasinated in 1991, she and her children could have packed their bags and left for Italy for good. Most people in such a situation would have done that. Whereas we 'patriotic' people are ready to apply for citizenship in any country where the grass is greener than it is here. Just take the case of all those NRIs who take up citizenship in othe countries and are ashamed to say that they are Indian. I have met Indians from the US: ''India? Man its so dirty. All filth and people. yuck. how can I have status if I say that I am from India? Germany: ''Nein, nein, nicht Inder. Wir sind Deutsche. Hoch Deutschland!'' (No no not Indians, we are Germans. Long live Germany!) The list goes on... Also, she dosent make a difference between indians no matter whether you are from Murukkampuzha, Tinsukia or Jhumrithalayyia. She isnt like the 'patriotic leaders' who force Indians into killing each other on the basis of religion and caste, or dosent try to destroy Indian harmony through demolitions and riots.

It was obvious that if The Congress came back to power, Sonia would be PM. And it did. Does that mean that the voters of India are idiots? I dont think so. Just because most of them dont know the marketshare of Reliance or the network coverage of AirTel or the rate of pantyhoses at Pantaloons, dont call the people of India idiots. Also, the allies also supported Sonias PMship. This was obvious when the king of Lalooland said: ''I am not the kingmaker, I am the queenmaker.''

This lady has given more to the country than anyone else. Her husband, mother-in-law... at the time of crisis her relatives (read Menaka) abandoned her. She has lived through all this. She has survived a huge and largely personalized campaign against her with calls like ''Jersey cow'' and ''Italian B''. She didnt utter a word in response, but held her head high, just like the Indian Naari would have done, and quitely but surely led the party to victory

Reading all this, you must think that I am in full favour of Sonia Gandhi becoming Prime Minister. That too, not quite. The issue is her political inexperience. She does not have the view of Nehru or the leadership of Indiraji, or the smoothness of Rajiv Gandhi or the tact of Vajpayee. Managing a coalition that includes the likes of Mulayam, Surjeet and Mayavati is like trying to mix oil and water. It requires huge intellectual, tactical, political and emotional capabilities and loooong experience. She surely dosent have that. She also is too inexperienced to mange issues like International Relations. Usually only seasoned leaders become Prime Ministers. Its the congress' fate that they dont have a substitute for her. I really think she is too much of a political novice to lead a country of 1 billion people. If these leaders really care for the country, they should raise this issue at the forefront, not the one of 'foreign-origin'. This one is far more serious. They were trying to cash in on patriotism and communalism, but it didnt work.

(For the record: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Erstwhile Mr. Universe and Superstar and now governor of California, became a US Citizen only in 1983).

Last word: By giving up her claim to PMship, Sonia Gandhi has yet again proved that she stands tall over most Indians. She has denied the Parivar a big stick that they could use to beat her with, which ultimately would have led to chaos. But above all that, she has proven through her action of tyaag, (renunciation) that she is the real indian, like the long line of great Indians who have done great acts of sacrifice: Buddha, Asoka the Great, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi...

Its during moments like these that India is really shining.

Jai Hind!

cheers!

vadakkus