Rahul by Jatin Gandhi, Veenu Sandhu

Sonia walked briskly into the waiting crowd, the smile not leaving her face even for a second. Dressed in a simple black salwar suit and white dupatta, Sonia stood next to Rahul as supporters from all ranks greeted him. At times, she placed her hand on his shoulder. At other times, she guided him across to meet those on the other side of the lawn. That September afternoon, Congress president Sonia Gandhi was like a mother whose son had passed a prestigious exam or won a coveted award. The big event was Rahul’s appointment as general secretary of the Congress. And Sonia, the woman who had ‘fought like a tigress’ to keep her husband Rajiv out of politics, was thrilled to see her son in the position his father had occupied in the early 1980s. A mother’s pride had replaced the wife’s fears.
    Rahul was given charge of the Party’s youth wing, the Indian Youth Congress, and the student wing, the National Students’ Union of India. He was thirty-seven years old and had been in politics for three years as an MP from Amethi—the constituency which his father and, later, his mother had occupied. In the initial years after Rajiv’s death, not many had expected Rahul to take the plunge. His decision to leave the country for higher studies, and then to stay abroad to work, added to the impression that the older Gandhi sibling was not keen on politics. Many Congressmen had viewed Priyanka, and not Rahul, as the natural successor who would one day lead the Party, following in the footsteps of Indira. Right from her childhood, Priyanka had appeared cut out for politics. Though she was only twelve when her grandmother was assassinated, those who saw her at the funeral soon began calling her the future Indira. There was something about her that made her stand out—a visible strength, a personality that immediately inspired confidence—and heightened the resemblance to Indira. Priyanka, the younger sibling, appeared older than Rahul. And it wasn’t just because she stood a head taller than him. As time would show, she was a natural when it came to interacting with people. When she finally did descend on the political arena, albeit as a campaigner and not a candidate, she appeared more accessible than Rahul. She was clearly in her element campaigning in the hot and dusty lanes of Amethi and Rae Bareli, constituencies which have become synonymous with the Gandhi family. Compared to her, Rahul was seen as inexperienced. That perception was not without reason. Priyanka was a familiar face in politics long before Rahul made his first foray. Even in the most trying of times, she had shown the kind of mettle which is rare in someone so young.
    When Rajiv was killed in 1991, Rahul was in the United States where he was studying. Sonia was too distraught to deal with anything. The responsibility of taking care of her mother and overseeing the funeral arrangements till her brother arrived from the US fell upon Priyanka. She took charge of the situation. She stood as a wall between her mother and everybody else, refusing access to Sonia’s room. It was she who asked her father’s friend, Satish Sharma, to arrange for her and Sonia to fly to Madras to bring Rajiv’s body back to Delhi. And, it was she who went to receive Rahul when he returned to India on being informed of his father’s death.
    Within the Party, Rajiv’s death had raised a leadership crisis. But it didn’t take the Congress long to decide whom it wanted as his successor. By the afternoon of 22 May, within twenty-four hours of the assassination, the CWC decided it would call upon Sonia to become party president. Though Sonia issued a letter saying that, while she was deeply touched by the offer, she could not accept the position, the clamour for her to take charge refused to die. On 11 September, when the Election Commission announced the by-election to the Amethi seat left vacant by Rajiv’s death, the ‘Sonia
lao
’ campaigners brought up her name again. While