By Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI, Oct 27 2003 (IPS)

A month ahead of the Dec. 1 state elections in India, the most visible issue seems to be the foreign origins of Sonia Gandhi, chief of the Congress party and leader of the national opposition in Parliament.

The issue has been used against her in past elections but is now being shaped again as a handy political tool by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ultra-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The ruling party, after all, is seeking to unseat the incumbent Congress governments in the four states where the polls will be held – western Rajasthan, central Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and in Delhi state, which houses the national capital.

The elections are also a bellwether for general elections scheduled for September 2004.

In the absence of serious issues that can differentiate India’s two main political entities in the eyes of the average voter, it is tempting for the BJP to once again harp on Gandhi’s Italian origins and her supposed unsuitability as a foreigner to lead the country.

But what must be even more consternating for the Congress party is the fact that, quite apart from the BJP, some of its own allies have also been critical of the foreign origins of their leader, who through marriage became a member of India’s famous Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty.

Gandhi is the widow of the charismatic Rajiv Gandhi, who served a term as prime minister but was assassinated by Sri Lankan Tamil militants in 1991. Sonia Gandhi’s mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, also served several terms as prime minister and dominated Indian politics from the late 60s till her own assassination in 1984.

Last month, the Congress party came close to losing its government in western Maharashtra state after Sharad Pawar, the leader of alliance partner the National Congress Party (NCP), described Gandhi as a ”foreign vegetable” and refused to retract his words.

Pawar, for decades an important figure in the Congress party, split to form the NCP in 1999, citing Gandhi’s foreign birth as the reason for doing so. In the process, his move undermined the party’s bastion in the important west coast state, which has the commercial hub of Mumbai for its capital.

The only reason that the Congress-NCP alliance survived was because of the fear that a quarrel would only pave the way for a return of their common enemy, the pro-Hindu combine of the BJP and Shiv Sena.

”There is no change in the NCP’s stand on Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origins – we sincerely feel that a country with a population of one billion people has enough competent leaders who can rule the country,” declared Pawar.

While Pawar made the Congress party eat humble pie by refusing to apologise, Gandhi has decided to go on the offensive and has even begun to lay emphasis, at election meetings, of her credentials as ‘bahu’ (daughter-in-law) to the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty.

”Those who question my patriotism should first point out when – ever since I became Indiraji’s daughter-in-law until now – have I failed to conform to Indian traditions and what fundamental values of a secular Indian family have I failed to adopt?” she asked of a crowd gathered at an election rally in Jaipur, Rajasthan’s capital on Oct. 16.

The crowd, which had a fair share of women voters, roared its approval, sending out signals to both the BJP and allies like Sharad Pawar that they could be pushing the questioning of Sonia’s credentials too far.

Congress party leaders have been quick to seize the advantage. A new conviction is discernible when they emphasise that Sonia Gandhi is their undisputed leader and that she is their prime ministerial candidate, although the general elections are still a year away.

Said Congress party spokesman, Jaipal Reddy: ”The fact is that today Sonia Gandhi commands popular confidence and should lead the government.”

That was no idle boast, since the Congress party directly rules 15 of India’s states including major ones like western Punjab, and southern Kerala and Karnataka.

Reddy also pointed to the ‘secular’ alliances that the Congress party has forged in two of India’s most populous states – eastern Bihar and northern Uttar Pradesh. ”We have a redoubtable ally in Laloo Yadav (chief minister of Bihar) and we have an option with Mulayam Singh Yadav (chief minister of Uttar Pradesh),” Reddy said.

The Congress party has also been pledged support from the left-wing parties that rule West Bengal state and is powerful in southern Kerala. According to Reddy, this is the result of ”unselfish ideological commitment”.

An opinion poll conducted by ‘India Today’ magazine, which is seen as biased in favour of the BJP, concedes that the Congress party is poised to win in Delhi and Rajasthan. But the poll also predicts that the party may not fare so well in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh.

”Losses in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh would be big blows for the Congress, a slide from the high of 15 states under Sonia Gandhi’s presidentship,” ‘India Today’ said in an analysis of its own poll.

But the Congress party chief minister of Chattisgarh, Ajit Jogi, has challenged the ‘India Today’ poll. He says he is confident that the largely tribal population would him back to power and reject the BJP in the state, led by the scion of a royal family Dilip Singh Judev.

”The people know who has been exploiting them for centuries and will undoubtedly reject them and opinion polls are known for to be misleading and wide off the mark,” a confident Jogi said.

Many believe that in truth, Gandhi is not keen on the prime ministership for herself, but is interested in protecting the Nehru-Gandhi legacy and keeping the seat warm for the next generation of Gandhis – particularly her daughter Priyanka who has begun making appearances at political rallies.

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