25 May 2002

SONIA MAY BE DURGA FOR CONGRESSMEN BUT SHE KNOWS SHE IS FRIGHTENED, CONFUSED

From Jal Khambata

NEW DELHI: Congress President Sonia Gandhi imbibes certain secret thoughts, confusion and fears of war that she wanted to share with the Congress leaders gathered at the AICC session here on Friday from across the country but on second thought she opted to let them remain secret.

She was told by her political advisors that sharing her thoughts would depict her as a frightened, weak woman belying the image of a lady ready to take over as the Prime Minister and Delhi PCC chief Subhash Chopra even hailing her as "Durga" during the day-long AICC session. Advisors told her that she should be a picture of confidence and not worry.

And, so she dropped a paragraph from her concluding remarks and instead opted to point out that she alone or for that matter any one person cannot achieve everything stressed at the session as what was needed is a "team work" by all, dropping their personal prejudices and interests.

Her secret thoughts, however, did not remain secret as an enthusiastic Media Department of the AICC quickly distributed to the dispersing media persons the "silent (sic, should be salient) points on the concluding remarks by the Congress President" without realising that she had omitted references to war in her speech.

Here are these secret thoughts verbatim:

"I don't know how the current tension on the border is going to work itself out over the next few days.

"I am as much worried as all of you and indeed as all of the country. I have been repeatedly saying that we support the government in its efforts to stamp out cross-border terrorism and restore peace in Jammu and Kashmir.

"But we are perplexed and confused and disturbed by what different people in the government say at different times. Talk of clouds, skies and lightning may be good poetry but does not make for coherent and effective diplomacy." END