Author: J.V. Lakshmana Rao.
Publication: India Tribune Chicago
Date: May 29, 2004
If the results of the recently held
Lok Sabha elections have surprised the Indians and non-Indians alike
all over the world, the historic crash of stock markets and the subsequent
decision of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi not to be the Prime
Minister of India have left them baffled. By her decision, she and
many who have been opposing her becoming Prime Minister of India
because of her Italian birth, have heaved a sigh of relief while
her staunch supporters have been "heartbroken." What forced Sonia
Gandhi to take such a decision? The decision was not "momentous"
after the May 17 developments, but the announcement came only on
May 18 after she met the President.
It was evident by May 17 evening,
when she was having prolonged confabulations with the allies first
and then with their leaders next, as the situation around 10 Janpath
turned tense with the rumors that Sonia Gandhi was "reluctant" to
carry the mantle of Prime Ministership. It was also true the allies
- particularly the Left parties -- were not ready to accept her "no."
The twice postponed meeting of waiting Congress MPs at her residence,
which did not take place, finally made them to depart with a brief
announcement to them by Pranab Mukherjee that the President had invited
her and there was no need for them believe any rumors. But, for her
the momentous decision to honor the "inner voice" only came after
she met the President on May 18. It is significant to note that the
President's invitation to her has specific that she meet him to "discuss"
the formation of the next government. It is also equally significant
to note that she had met him alone. What transpired between the President
and Sonia Gandhi has not been announced by them, but if Delhi newspapers
are to be believed that the President has raised many Constitutional
"improprieties" that have surfaced because of her foreign birth and
"duel citizenship" that needed to be answered by her.
Was it here at this moment that
her "inner voice" dictated her not to stake the claim to be the Prime
Minister of India? The President has all along been in touch with
the Constitutional experts about the issues that have been often
asked by people and legal experts about her eligibility to this top
post. The main questions perhaps pertained to her owning immovable
property in Italy and the reciprocity of citizenship privileges that
existed in Italy for a naturalized Indian Italian. It is stated that
in the affidavit filed by her before the returning officer of the
Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency, she had made it clear that
she owned ancestral property - a portion of a house - in Orbassano, Italy.
In a petition to the President,
Sushma Swaraj also raised a very valid question. She referred to
the fact that a Defense or Indian Foreign Service official cannot
even marry a foreign national without permission, or must quit his
or her post. "In such a situation," she asked, "how could a person
of foreign origin be handed over the nuclear button?"
While the initial jolt was the stock
market crash, a harbinger of things to come for Sonia Gandhi, the
real thrust for "inner voice" to speak to her came only after she
had the meeting with the President. While the President gauged the
popular pulse of the people about the impropriety of her holding
the highest office, he had only two choices - one to explain to her
what comes in her way to be the Prime Minister, or simply explain
his disinclination to administer her the oath office. The latter
would have been an extreme step but not impossible. To defuse the
situation, perhaps, he himself had offered to step down if she was
adamant to withdraw herself. That might have triggered the "inner
voice" of Sonia Gandhi.
Whatever may be the reason, a nation
of one billion people has been spared from the embarrassment of having
a foreign-born person being its Prime Minister.
