 NEW DELHI: Will she? Won't she? Plunge into politics, that is. That's the
question millions in the world's largest democracy have been asking since
Priyanka Gandhi , heir apparent of the powerful Gandhi-Nehru dynasty, made an
appearance as a shy young debutante in a sari almost a decade ago.
Members of Congress, India's main opposition party, aren't saying, but many
say Priyanka may be the party's only bet after it was roundly trounced in
three crucial state elections in December 2003.
"Many Congressmen believe Priyanka is the Congress party's trump card," said
Inder Malhotra, a political analyst and biographer of the Nehru-Gandhi
dynasty. "She should have been asked to campaign before the assembly
elections. And they shouldn't delay it any more because she has tremendous
impact and she will certainly be a morale booster."
Several Congress leaders have been pushing for Priyanka for some time, but
they say the party needs the 32-year-old psychology graduate's charisma now
more than ever to help revive its flagging fortunes before next
general election.
Congress, 118 years old and India's oldest political party, fought for the
country's freedom from colonial rule and was the dominant force in Indian
politics from independence in 1947 until a Hindu nationalist coalition won
power in the mid-1990s.
Since then, it has been banking on the dynastic pull of Sonia Gandhi, widow
of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. But Italian-born Sonia, who is also
former prime minister Indira Gandhi's daughter-in-law, just does not strike a
chord in India with her faltering Hindi and political inexperience.
Her foreign birth is also a target of bitter criticism. That, political
analysts say, is the reason why Congress hit political rock bottom when it
was swept from power in two key states: Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
As a result, Congress controls only about a dozen of the country's 29 states
while its rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party, is going from strength to
strength. Priyanka is emerging as a natural communicator. During visits to
the family borough of Amethi, she mingles with the masses and she has been
seen sitting on charpoys or traditional jute beds talking to villagers in the
dusty state of Uttar Pradesh.
"People believe she is much more of a politician. Plus, the fact that she
physically resembles her grandmother, Indira, also works to her advantage,"
said Malhotra.
Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, was her great grandfather,
Indira Gandhi her grandmother, Rajiv Gandhi her father and dynastic
succession is a strong tradition in South Asia.
She may not be in active politics yet, but being a member of India's first
family, her movements are still the subject of lively living-room chatter,
much like Prince William in Britain.
Every once in a while, newspapers are plastered with Priyanka pictures: an
emotional Priyanka being consoled by her brother at the spot their father was
assassinated, a glamorous Priyanka in dazzling silk at a social do or a
politically savvy Priyanka in home-spun cotton sitting with peasants.
Some say Sonia is only keeping the seat warm for Priyanka while she's busy
raising her two children, but she will eventually plunge into politics like
the rest of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty.
While she also has an older brother, Rahul, Priyanka is seen as having "star
quality" on the hustings with fluent Hindi and a charisma that reminds many
of her grandmother. "She has what's called the emotional intelligence for
politics," Congress spokesman Jaipal Reddy told Reuters before the state
elections.
(Reuters )
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