Aide Says Sonia Intends To Take Charge Of The Partys

Sonia Gandhi's decision to become a member of the Congress signals her intention to take charge of the party sooner or later, according to one of her aides. It is her response to the hundreds of thousands of party workers who have been pleading with her to save the Congress, which is disintegrating, he said.

He made it clear that she was willing and ready to travel across the country to strengthen the party. He also indicated that she would take a formal position in the party, perhaps as president, sooner than later.

For the moment, though, she has only taken step one. Having become a primary rather than an active member, she is clearly not in the running for a party post such as the presidentship in the current round of organisational elections. To contest for any party post, even at the block level, the party constitution requires one to be an active member.

Of course, rules are not meant for members of the Nehru-Gandhi family, as far as the Congress is concerned. What does any of this mean for Soniaji, asks a general secretary of the AICC. Clearly, if she wanted to, she could walk straight into the party president's office and take charge. Being a member of the family, though, she will not. Indeed, she is sure to go through each step perfectly legally.

Another AICC general secretary speculated that she would probably wait to take her next step and only gradually seek to take over the party. She is testing the reaction, added a Kesri aide, claiming that, for the moment, her move would strengthen Kesri since workers across the country had been enthused while such rival power centres as Sharad Pawar and Narasimha Rao - neither of whom she likes - would be weakened.

Certainly, her move has been carefully planned. There had been hushed talk among some Congress MPs in late March that Sonia had become an active member of the party from Delhi. At the time, her aide had denied it, though he had added enigmatically that there was still time for her to enrol. Significantly, she enroled at the time when senior party leaders were agog at Kesri's imminent decision to withdraw support to the Gowda government. She evidently decided, no doubt at the behest of other senior party leaders, to put in an oar but kept it secret until the result of Kesri's bait became clear. An MP close to Kesri insists that Arjun Singh played a key role in getting her to enrol, although Arjun Sungh has denied this Some Congress MPs speculated that the step could be a way to maintain her importance in the party until one of her two children are ready to play an active role in politics.