Sonia knows best

"I want to be a Sonia Gandhi." So says Asif Zardari, co-chairman of Pakistan People's Party (PPP). The remark brings no credit either to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Yet, both should realise the significance of the remark, which is louder in India than in Pakistan and elsewhere. The general impression is that she does the back-seat driving while Manmohan Singh is at the wheel.
Because of such thinking, top people, whether in business, politics or the bureaucracy, have tended to seek equation with her or someone close to her to get their job done. Any problem, dispute or claim which is difficult to solve evokes the stock question: Do you know 10 Janpath?
That is where she lives and that is where the buck stops. It is well known by this time that even membership of a routine-type commission needs her nod. This is not to speak about the senior positions.
Her favourites, even though incompetent, get the appointments and extensions. It is a trait she has inherited from her mother-in-law, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, who destroyed the institutions to such an extent that they have not yet recovered from the blow she gave.
I know that Manmohan Singh commands great respect in the world of economics. His integrity is beyond reproach. Even his worst critics are full of praise for his ability. Still, he has found himself helpless whenever the word from 10 Janpath was different from what he wanted to do. Left to him, he would have dropped some from his council of ministers for their involvement in sordid deals. He could not do so. She did not approve of his recommendations. What matters is her say.
Maybe Sonia Gandhi is guided by the coalition dharma, its compulsions of keeping the flock together and agreeing to what the allies demand. But this charitable explanation does not cover all her acts of omission and commission. Yet, it is Manmohan Singh who has paid the price in terms of prestige and power since the advent of his government.
"Can you tell this to Sonia ji?" is Manmohan Singh's plea whenever someone complains to him about his corrupt minister. Manmohan Singh knows he cannot ask him to go, however strongly he may feel. The prime minister sulks, but does very little beyond that. The fact is that she rules. He only governs. This has been the arrangement from day one, when the Congress party pressed Sonia Gandhi to be the prime minister and she, in turn, gave him the position. He is indebted to her. But he does not realise that she had no other dependable person. Once she realised that her Italian background would keep India's polity unsettled, Manmohan Singh was the obvious choice.
That she has mastered the art of exercising power from behind the scenes goes without saying. Rules and regulations are interpreted or amended to suit her wishes. This amounts to wielding power without being accountable. She enjoys the role. Indeed, she has added new vocabulary to the lexicon of politics: power without responsibility.
When Zardari says he wishes to be a Sonia Gandhi, he wants to pull strings from behind. But this requires a lot of patience, as Sonia Gandhi's stay of 10 years as party president suggests. Zardari is already tempted to the office of prime ministership because of the fuss and the fanfare which it demands. She has never had second thoughts about the position; nor has she wanted to replace Manmohan Singh.

It is possible that, if the Congress returns to power in the next election, Sonia may herself become the prime minister. After all, she nearly occupied the office some years ago when Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav did not support her with 13 crucial votes that would have given her a majority in the Lok Sabha.
Since then, she must have realised the difficult role Manmohan Singh has played. He has taken all the slings on himself and acted as a shield to save her the embarrassment of facing the critics. Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, was particular about the sanctity of office. UN Dheber was then the Congress president. Nehru had to combine the post of party president with the office of prime minister because he found a parallel line of authority developing. Mrs. Indira Gandhi held dual positions of prime minister and the Congress president from the beginning of her rule. She did not want a wrong message to go.
Sonia Gandhi has, however, done better. She has concentrated all power, executive and organisational, in herself. Manmohan Singh goes along the way she paves for him. He even anticipates her wishes and carries them out without being told. The day she designated her son, Rahul Gandhi, to campaign in the UP election -- he was not yet the party's secretary general --Manmohan Singh said that he (Rahul Gandhi) was "the future of India." Manmohan Singh's humility, modesty and simplicity are endearing traits, but his approval of everything that emanates from 10 Janpath has given him a title of a "yes man." Still, he plods along sincerely and untiringly.
In fact, the four years of the tenure of Manmohan Singh, which finishes in May, has registered some achievements of the Congress-Rural Employment Act which ensures work for 100 days to every rural family. The Right to Information through legislation is another achievement.
On the other hand, Sonia Gandhi with all her secular credentials has not fought against communalists as forcibly and relentlessly as was expected from her. The Congress-led Maharashtra government has not taken any action against Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, although the Justice Sri Krishna report had proved his hand in the killing of Muslims in Mumbai some 15 years ago. Bal Thackeray is now out to revive his parochial agenda of ousting north Indians from Maharashtra. Sonia's nominee, Maharasthra chief minister Vilasrao Desmukh, has taken things lightly when they challenge the very unity of India.
There is nothing in the horizon to suggest that Sonia Gandhi may drop Manmohan Singh. It looks as if both will go to the polls together. What may create some problems is the rising cost of living, which influences the voters. The Congress is losing support on this count and she is worried.
Zardari may not have so many problems to tackle if he wants to be a Sonia Gandhi. But he will prove the point if the prime minister he selects consults him before making any move. He has already devalued the office by naming Amin Fahim first and then thinking of someone else. Sonia has at least backed Manmohan Singh to the hilt. It is another matter that she has used him as her stalking horse.
Kuldip Nayar is an eminent Indian columnist