NEW DELHI: Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi certainly went out of her way on Saturday to campaign for her party in the run-up to the May 10 Karnataka assembly election. Her election speech at Hubballi is unique in the sense that she made it after a gap of about three-and-a-half years.
Though Sonia has been attending Parliament, addressing Congress Parliamentary Party meetings as its chairperson, visiting abroad and taking part in other engagements, it is for the first time after December 14, 2019 that she addressed a public rally.
She had addressed the Congress’s ‘Bharat Bachao (Save India) Rally’ in 2019 rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi.
In fact, she did not address a single public rally even in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. On April 11, 2019, she only addressed the media persons after filing nomination papers from her constituency in Raebareli.
Sonia, who has created the record for remaining as the Congress president for the longest time in the 136 years’ history of the party, had kept away from public rallies since December 2019.
She did not campaign in either the Gujarat or Himachal Pradesh assembly elections in November-December last year. Earlier in 2022 itself, she did not canvass for the Congress candidates in the Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand nor she campaigned in the Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya state polls held earlier this year.
Her name found mention on the first spot in the list of the Congress’s star campaigners for all the assembly elections and also the 2019 Lok Sabha election till she was president of the party on October 26, 2022. Thereafter, her name is listed on the second spot after that of her successor Mallikarjun Kharge.
However, she has not addressed an election rally in the last five-six years.
The Congress adds Sonia’s name in every election in the list of star campaigners because of protocol. She has obliged the party after about five-six years.
Earlier, Sonia had addressed as many as three rallies in May 2016.
On May 21, 2016, she addressed the ‘Hum Mein Hain Rajiv (Gandhi)’ rally in Delhi on the 25th death anniversary of her husband and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
On May 10, 2016, Sonia addressed a rally in Thiruvananthapuram, hitting out at those who called her a “foreigner”.
On May 6, 2016, Sonia addressed the Loktantra Bachao (Save Democracy) Rally in Delhi along with former PM Manmohan Singh before courting arrest.
Sonia, who turned 76 on December 9, 2022, has not been keeping well. The first time when she faced a health issue during a political event was on August 2, 2016, after landing at Varanasi airport to launch the Congress's campaign for the 2017 UP assembly election.
She was supposed to visit the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and deliver a public speech. However, she fell ill soon after reaching Varanasi and had to be airlifted and admitted to a hospital in Delhi the same day.
Some Congress leaders attribute Sonia’s missing in action from public rallies to her health issues. However, this is ruled out because she has been active elsewhere. For instance, she regularly takes part in the Parliament sessions.
As an MP from Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh, she raises matters of urgent attention in the Lok Sabha. She also addresses her party MPs as CPP chairperson during Parliament sessions.
Sonia also travels outside Delhi for personal and party-related works. She addressed her party leaders twice at 'Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir' in Udaipur on May 13 and May 15, 2022.
She travelled to Italy last year to meet her mother who later passed away.
One of her recent addresses was on November 19, 2022 at the Indira Gandhi Award Ceremony at Jawahar Bhawan in Delhi as chairperson of Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.
Sonia was also questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for several hours over three days in July in a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper.
Sonia seems to be slowly and gradually withdrawing from active politics to promote her children Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
On December 15, 2017, a day before Rahul Gandhi succeeded her as the Congress president, Sonia had indicated that she was on the verge of retiring from politics. Asked about her future role, she had said, "My role is now to retire."
Sonia’s gradual withdrawal from active politics is obvious now. She has stopped addressing election rallies. She has restricted herself to limited political events.
However, amidst all these developments, the Karnataka assembly election is clearly an exception. It indicates the high importance that the Congress and Sonia herself are attaching to the Karnataka election.
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.