Let’s have Sonia Gandhi as PM

Opposition stalwarts such as Mamata Banerjee and MK Stalin want to become the prime minister of the country. But to become PM, one has to have a pan-India presence, which they lack. It’s also true that if one does become PM, one is automatically bestowed with a pan-Indian presence.

In a recent meeting with the rest of the opposition, Sonia Gandhi said that the Congress won’t be found wanting. But found wanting for what? To dethrone the Modi-Shah regime? To support an opposition leader as PM?

It’s no secret that Sonia wants Rahul to become PM. Rahul works hard but he has had several chances to become PM. His acceptability level even within the party is low. The G-23 is deathly against him. They blame him for the debacles of 2014 and 2019.

It’s also entirely possible that opposition leaders will not support Rahul as PM. That opens up Pandora’s box for Sonia. She will not support an opposition leader; they will not support Rahul. Modi-Shah thus would get to win another election.

There is a way out for Sonia if she presents herself as a transitional candidate for PM. At 74, she still looks sprightly. She seems to have overcome any illness that she might have had. The G-23 accuses her of being invisible. Oh, she can be plenty visible if she wants to. Her mother-in-law clambered onto the back of an elephant to dethrone the Morarji regime. There’s no reason that Sonia cannot indulge in similar stunts.

But what plank will Sonia run under? Modi-Shah will amp up their Hindutva rhetoric. Notice that in the recent mega-cabinet reshuffle, not one person made minister was Muslim. Modi-Shah do not expect many votes from Muslims. In return, they do not have much to offer them.

But the economy is in a deep funk and may not go gangbusters before 2024. Covid too might still be with us. Pakistan could have launched Jihad 2.0 against us. In other words, there are several issues that Sonia can stand on.

But will the combined opposition accept her as their leader? Joe Biden had stated during his campaign for president that he intended to serve as a transitional president. Now of course it seems that he will seek a second term, but age and time know no telling. The pressures on a president or a PM are crushing.

Sonia should similarly message out that she’s not interested in being the PM for the long term. That after a fixed amount of time, she will pass the baton to someone else. It won’t be Rahul for the opposition wouldn’t accept that. It could be Priyanka but she has not acquitted herself altogether well as a committed politician.

The election of her life is nigh in UP next year but she still expects to displace Yogi Adityanath sitting from outside UP. Modi-Shah threw everything including the kitchen sink at Mamata Banerjee during the just-concluded West Bengal elections. UP is significantly more important to them. Just imagine the stops that they will pull out for UP. No tourist politician can expect to take on the Modi-Shah-Yogi combine. If Priyanka is not serious about politics, can she expect politicians to become serious about her? She has grown up in Lutyens Delhi for the most part and that is where she finds herself most at ease, and not in an outpost like Lucknow.

Sonia as interim PM will have the choice of choosing another opposition leader as PM, whether it is Mamata or someone else. She can also indulge in backseat driving, something that she did with Manmohan Singh for 10 years. If she doesn’t like her choice of PM, she can always change it.

The combined opposition must have one goal, which is to displace the Modi-Shah regime. It is not as if the two are doing anything wrong. The question is whether they are doing anything significantly right. And democracy needs change. Democracy thrives on change. One really should not have one party ruling India for more than 10 years, now that we truly have an entrenched multi-party system in place. New ideas, new labours, new people benefit the country.

Whether people accept it or not, Sonia has pan-Indian acceptability. This time she must keep the remote control of campaigning in her hands. She has enormous political nous and understanding of the Indian people. Were it not so, she would not have pulled off the greatest electoral upset in Indian history, that of Vajpayee in 2004.

Sonia must cash in on her all-India presence. The opposition will flock to her like geese once they realize that she will make one of them PM. The G-23 will stop their quibbling as well. After all, they have thrived on the crumbs from Sonia’s table for the longest time. Once she regains power, they would love to partake of the fish and loaves of power that she might have for them.