Gone in 300 seconds: When Sonia and Rahul became aam aadmi for a day

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi may have been granted bail on December 19 in the National Herald alleged cheating and misappropriation of funds case, and the party is trying its best to take a moral high-ground, but the halo around the party's first family faded today.

Sonia and Rahul appeared as accused, as any other "aam aadmi" (common person) in the trial court and, as eye-witnesses said, they also kept standing as any other accused persons. Only 86-year-old Congress treasurer Motilal Vora was exempted from standing considering his age and health.

The perception about the Gandhis will change sooner than later that they can also be dragged to court, made to stand as accused persons, forced to take bail on personal bond and asked to appear again, and possible again and again like any common person. Their aura, the perception about their invincibility in legal matters has been deeply dented. No wonder then, the hashtag #SoniaRahulHazirHo trended on Twitter throughout the day.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal, who appeared as the counsel of the Gandhis, himself told the media outside the court that the Gandhis appeared as accused. "We moved an application for bail before the court on behalf of all accused. The court was kind enoungh to grant bail on personal bond of Rs 50,000 each. Court rejected Subramanian Swamy's demand that there should be conditions put on passports of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. The court has fixed February 20 as next date of hearing in the case," he said.

Every time Sonia and Rahul appear before the court, they will do so as accused persons in a case pertaining to cheating, fraud and misappropriation of funds - something which one cannot feel proud of. Had it not been damaging to their reputation, the Gandhis would not have tried their level best to evade personal appearance in the court for all these months. After the trial court issued summons to them, they had challenged it in Delhi High Court, which rejected their appeal, forcing their appearance.

But for their status, it would also have been difficult for the Gandhis to secure bail for themselves. They were granted unconditional bail because they are "reputed persons". It means, they could also have been jailed had they been aam aadmis.

Sonia and Rahul have not set a healthy precedent by appearing as accused in their capacity as Congress president and vice-president. They should have resigned from their respective posts, by taking a cue from former prime minister Narasimha Rao who stepped down from Congress president's post in September 1996 in the Lakhubhai Pathak cheating case.

Getting a sense of the developments, Rao had resigned from his post even before the court issued summons to him on September 21, 1996. On the contrary, Sonia and Rahul not only stuck to their respective posts even after the summons were issued but also appeared in the Patiala House trial court as accused persons.

In fact, it was under Sonia's supervision that Rao had tendered his resignation and was succeeded by Sitaram Kesri. But Sonia and Rahul did not follow the same tradition when it came to them. The two Gandhis, who are now accusing the BJP of "political vendetta", had another example to follow - that of Union water resources minister Uma Bharati.

Bharati had relinquished the Madhya Pradesh chief minister's post on August 23, 2004 after a Hubli court issued non-bailable warrant against her in a 10-year-old case which did not pertain to cheating or fraud as in the case of the Gandhis. She had defied prohibitory orders and hoisted the national flag at the Idgah Maidan on Independence Day in 1994. The Karnataka government subsequently dropped the charges against her and she returned to Madhya Pradesh to a rousing welcome by her supporters and BJP workers. But the Gandhis chose not to take a leaf out of this case as well.

The Congress, which ruled the country for several decades, today is fighting for its survival. Their condition can be well imagined from Rahul's response after he and his mother got bail. He said, "Modi ji Congress mukt Bharat chahte hain, Congress mukt Bharat kabhi nahi hoga (Modiji wants a Congress-free India. This will never happen.)"

The Congress is just indulging in a major damage-control exercise, deflecting attention from the pertinent issues, crying victim to garner sympathy of its supporters and levelling baseless allegations against its opponents to keep the morale of the party cadres from dipping to a new low.

Otherwise, the image of the two Nehru-Gandhis has been deeply dented.