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Dissidence drowns in pro-Sonia uproar at AICC

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The raucous, whole-hearted support of the All-India Congress Committee delegates for party president Sonia Gandhi, coupled with the assertive cry for vengeance against the three rebels who were expelled last week, indicates that dissidence in the party will be forced to take a back seat.

The emotional proceedings of the Talkatora AICC session, which lasted nearly two hours, were peppered with deafening pro-Sonia slogans and frequent references to the rebellious trio of Sharad Pawar, Purno Sangma and Tariq Anwar as "yeh teen gaddaar" (these three traitors).

This provided ample evidence that the party is in no mood to forgive or forget those who had raised the banner of revolt against Gandhi.

The proceedings began 75 minutes late with the shrewd organisers informing the impatient delegates and party workers that Gandhi had trouble coming to the venue because the streets were jam-packed with tumultuous crowds to welcome her.

When she finally arrived, the impatience had turned to mass hysteria as pro-Sonia slogans rent the indoor stadium.

The fact that the Congress chief waited a week before withdrawing her resignation had already heightened the feeling that she had been wronged. All those who spoke at the AICC today invariably lashed out at the rebels.

Welcoming Gandhi, Delhi Congress politician Subhash Chopra set the tone and tenor of the session by referring to the three rebels as "Jaichand and Mir Jafar" (infamous in Indian history as traitors). The prolonged cheering and repeated slogans of "Sonia Gandhi zindabad" which greeted this statement showed that all those present were solidly behind her.

For Congress Working Committee members Rajesh Pilot, Jitendra Prasada and Sitaram Kesri, all of whom are suspected to sympathise with the three rebels and were present on the dais, the writing was clearly etched on the wall -- any sort of dissidence, at least for the time being, would have to take a back seat.

Chopra won the delegates' approval by contending that Pawar should have been expelled when his name figured in the Srikrishna Commission report on the Bombay riots of 1992-93. He said Anwar should also have been kicked out when he walked out of the CWC meeting after Gandhi took over as party chief.

The resentment against the rebellious three burst into the open when Maharashtra Congress politician Ranjit Deshmukh referred to Pawar as "Sharad Pawarji". This infuriated the delegates and party workers who tried to shout him down. Deshmukh could speak only after Kamal Nath intervened. Deshmukh, however, got the delegates' loud approval when he referred to the rebels as "yeh teen gaddaar".

It could not escape the delegates, least of all the likes of Kesri, Prasada and Pilot, that the popular mood was overwhelmingly in favour of the party chief. Thus, there was not even a flicker of opposition during the proceedings.

Nagaland Chief Minister S C Jamir elicited a roar of approval when he told Gandhi to be careful in future of fawning courtiers, partymen who revolve around her for power and position.

Uttar Pradesh politician Ammar Rizvi captured the mood of the AICC when he asserted that the rebels had voiced the RSS line by their action. He too warned Gandhi against placing too much faith on courtiers and stressed the need to tackle Pawar, Sangma and Anwar on the electoral battlefield.

When Gandhi rose to deliver her speech, the delegates and Congress workers went berserk. The speech proved to be a masterpiece of political savvy, perspicacity and sound political judgement, laced with Sonia Gandhi's charisma.

Gandhi made no bones about having been taken for a ride by at least two of her close colleagues. Without using the word 'betrayal', she conveyed that the three rebels were arch traitors.

She pointed out that not very long ago, they had come to her with folded hands to request her to save the country. Now, she said, they are sowing the seeds of suspicion against her so-called foreign origin.

She pointed out that India had accepted her as Indira Gandhi's bahu (daughter-in-law) 31 years ago, after which she had always been an Indian in heart and soul.

Towards the end of her speech, she said she had finally recognised her true friends. The Congress, she underscored, is not power-hungry. She said she would not give a reply to the issue raised by the three rebels, but would leave it to the people.

She also sought to put an end to the controversy regarding her "hurry" to become the prime minister. At the appropriate time, she said, the Congress Party in Parliament will decide who will be prime minister, she said.

If the prolonged applause for her speech was any indication, Sonia Gandhi has suppressed the dissidence in the party for the time being at least.

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