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Sonia to take her fight to the people

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Congress president Sonia Gandhi is likely to launch a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party at the two rallies she will address in Delhi and Nagpur on Friday.

She is likely to question the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's decision to review the Constitution and take head-on her critics who have questioned her ability to lead the party.

Friday marks the 109th birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution, and is thus tactically a good day to oppose any move to tinker with the Constitution.

Also, the rally in Nagpur, where Dr Ambedkar took deeksha, indicates a new urgency within the party to woo Dalits, who once constituted its committed votebank

In a message on Thursday, Sonia said: "Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was one of the leading figures of the last century who played a pivotal role in shaping social reforms in free India. A spokesman of the downtrodden, a tireless campaigner for social justice, an architect of our Constitution, Babasaheb's ideals have left an indelible imprint on our national life and polity. His vision, patriotism and commitment enabled him to awaken the depressed classes and establish the concepts of social equality and justice as one of the fundamental principles of our Constitution."

Senior party leader and the Congress deputy leader in Parliament Madhavrao Scindia, however, believes that the party does not need to re-establish its relationship with the Dalits. "Our commitment to the cause of the Dalits, backwards and minorities is too well known and therefore why should anybody be surprised at our rallies here and in Nagpur where we will reiterate our opposition to the Vajpayee government's malafide act in constituting a panel to review the Constitutuion."

The Congress is convinced that the BJP's main objective in ordering a review of the Constitution is to prevent Sonia from becoming the prime minister.

"The country has accepted Soniaji as Indira Gandhi's bahu and an illustrious member of the Nehru-Gandhi family. And yet the BJP-led government is harping on her Italian origin ad nauseam. It shows that the BJP-led government has mala fide intentions and we will not rest until this whole unsavoury business is buried where it belongs - the dustbin of history," said senior party MP Mani Shankar Aiyar.

Scindia pointed out that even President K R Narayanan was surprised by the government's move and had gone to the extent of cautioning it not to alter the basic structure of the Constitution.

"Ever since India became free our Constitution has eminently delivered the goods to our people. India is a shining example of what democracy is all about, thanks to our Constitution...so where is the need for amending and reviewing the Constitution," he asked.

Almost all Congress Working Committee members would attend the two rallies on Friday, while a substantial number of senior leaders and mediapersons have also been flown to Nagpur.

That the Congress is locked in a direct tussle with the Sangh Parivar for the Dalit votebank is quite apparent.

Yesterday RSS chief K S Sudarshan garlanded Dr Ambedkar's statue in Nagpur after which the local Congress unit washed the statue to "purify" it.

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