[nukkad] Sonia Gandhi

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tip of the day:  Forgive your enemies, it drives them really nuts.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr.Kapil Komireddi wrote: 
Do you think we should accept Sonia Gandhi as a National leader, and,
eventually, Prime Minister? If we shouldn't, then please state the reasons. 

We should not. 

Sonia Gandhi symbolizes the feudalistic mentality of hierarchical
succession. She is Congress President only because she is daughter-in-law of
Indira Gandhi. She symbolizes the bankruptcy of Democratic norms among
Congressmen. They believe that their Party is nothing if it is not headed by
someone from the Nehru-Gandhi family. This attitude does not augur well for
the Democracy. No doubt other leaders also promote their kith and kin in
their party but a the grand old Political party being reduced to a family
fiefdom is indeed pathetic. 

A Prime Minister who is foisted on the Nation by the accident of birth or
marriage is likely to surround herself with coterie of self-serving advisors
and ruin the country. We have the example of Sanjay Gandhi (de facto PM of
mid seventies) and Rajiv Gandhi who squandered a massive sympathy mandate
because of indecisiveness even in choosing and retaining his coterie.
Democracy needs leaders who come up from the ranks and not foisted on top. 

Her foreigner tab does hurt my Indian Ego. A foreigner pitch forked to be
our ruler not because of her work among the masses but only because she
married an erstwhile Prince of Indian Politics, betrays our inability to
develop a National leadership. It wouldn't matter if a foreigner acquires
Indian citizenship and comes up in Indian Politics from the grass roots
level because of his / her work among the masses. Prime-Ministership of
India should not be accessible to anyone, even to Indians, by climbing a
one-step political ladder. 

I suspect her loyalty to India as opportunistic. For 15 years she lived in
the Official Residence of Indian Prime Minister as a daughter-in-law owing
allegiance to a foreign country. When her husband was pitch forked into
Politics, she took Indian citizenship lest her foreign nationality become a
liability to her husband's political career.  

V.K.Venugopal





------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Subscribe [Unsubscribe] send a blank message to 
        nukkad-list-request@mumbai-central.com 
with the word 'subscribe' ['unsubscribe'] (without quotes) in the Subject 
of your message.
The list is archived at  http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/archive.html