But there’s plenty stacked against her

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">In case of a contest between Sonia Gandhi and Atal Behari Vajpayee, who’ll win? If you said Vajpayee, you could be wrong. In the 1999 elections, both stood from Uttar Pradesh, land of big battles and decider of crucial political destinies. Sonia sailed home on a record three-lakh margin from Amethi. Vajpayee barely managed to hold his own in Lucknow.<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Sonia, the Outsider</span><br />Does this mean Indians have accepted Sonia, Italian warts and all? Though Sonia’s stilted style and body language may stand in complete contrast to the easy charisma of Indira and Rajiv, that doesn’t appear to have worked against her.At least not in village India. Indeed, place Sonia in a rural setting and she gels perfectly, her Gandhi name more than compensating for the awkwardness of her accent and the disadvantage of her videshi birth. <br />Yet, the Indian elite remains largely cold to the idea of Sonia as Prime Minister. "I think the notion is ludicrous," says Bharati Sadasivam. That’s a surprise, considering Sadasivam is left-liberal, has a UN job in New York and is almost never politically incorrect. Strangely, many otherwise progressive urban Indians feel the same discomfort when it comes to Sonia.<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Sonia, the Leader</span><br />However, the Italian connection is not the only reason why the junior Mrs G doesn’t click with this lot. It seems a mix of things: her sudden emergence at the head of the Gandhi dynasty, her imperious conduct, her obvious inexperience and, finally, the mystery surrounding the Maino family. There is also a certain unease with the idea that a billion-strong people have to look to foreign shores for political guidance. "It is tragic for India that the Congress cannot come up with a credible political candidate, who knows, belongs to, cares for and is committed to the country in an unquestionable way," says Sadasivam.<br />Indira had an excellent rapport with the cadre and had an instinctive feel for politics. "Sonia has instead put in place a mechanism for feedback which can never be the same as mass contact," says Janata Dal ideologue Surendra Mohan. He also questions her competence.<br />"She writes letters to the PM on policy matters, but rarely shows up at all-party meetings, which suggests a lack of self-confidence."<br />BJP spokesperson Arun Jaitley has problems with her reliance on a prepared text and her need for constant tutoring: "You cannot have as prime minister a person about whose comprehension and understanding, there is a definite doubt." Jaitley is also emphatic that her foreign birth will seriously impinge on whatever decisions she takes, whether economic, defence, nuclear or foreign affairs. <br />"It is a matter of national security," he says. At the BJP headquarters on Ashoka Road, there is an air of resignation. It is as if the cadre knows the Congress is poised to return. Yet, there is unmistakable glee at the prospect: "Wait till Sonia messes up."<br />It is precisely this — the vicious response that awaits Prime Minister Sonia — that troubles journalist Saeed Naqvi. "Sonia is not sustainable as PM" says Naqvi who argues that every country has its own religious equilibrium. "The Anglican Church in the UK will not allow a Roman Catholic to become prime minister, America will not have a Jewish president." <br />In India, the fact that a Muslim is in residence in Rashtrapti Bhawan will go against Roman catholic Sonia. Naqvi feels that the Kalam-Sonia combination will be lethal given its potential to inflame Hindutva passions. "If she becomes PM, a more virulent wave of Hindutva will hit us. Sonia is just what the Hindu right wants."<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Sonia, the Difficult Partner</span><br />Congressmen, of course, will admit to no weakness in Sonia. In other words, it is the party that’s the problem. The big four — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal — are still beyond the Congress’s reach. In the Hindi heartland, the Congress’s once invincible umbrella coalition is in tatters: "We are up against huge social churning here and no magic wand can set things right for us," says a senior partyman.<br />Add to this, the Congress’s troubles with coalition formation, and suddenly the future doesn’t look too rosy for Sonia . "Sonia talks about coalition but balks at forming them, as we can see from the UP example," says Surendra Mohan. The CPM’s politburo chief Prakash Karat adds to the pessimism by ruling out an alliance with the Congress at the Centre.<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Sonia, the Secularist</span><br />Karat argues that the Congress has not projected itself as an alternative — neither in terms of its economic policies, nor in the stand it has taken on communalism. "The Congress has a record of vacillating on communalism. Under Sonia, there has been some realisation on this. But in Gujarat, this has not translated into a strong anti-communal mobilisation." <br />Another Congress leader explains this "vacillation" as a necessity. Gujarat, he says, has undergone a "frightening social transformation," which hard secularism cannot fight. "After all, we have to capture power. It is only later that we can demonstrate our difference."<br />The question is: Can Sonia help the Congress achieve the objective? </div> </div>