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Sonia Gandhi to Rajdeep Sardesai: No comparison between Modi and Indira

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DailyBiteNov 21, 2016 | 22:34

Sonia Gandhi to Rajdeep Sardesai: No comparison between Modi and Indira

Narendra Modi is no Indira Gandhi, so says India's most taciturn politicians ever.

After a nine-year-long audio silence, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has finally spoken up. In an exclusive interview to senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, Gandhi talked about the themes closest to her, but mostly on Indira Gandhi, her mother-in-law, India's first and only woman prime minister, and one of its most recognisable faces in history.

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The freewheeling chat was a refeshing change from the stiff upper lip and extreme secrecy that Sonia normally maintains on things personal and political. So when on the occasion of Indira Gandhi's 99th birth anniversary on November 19, a travelling multimedia exhibition started doing the rounds all over India, with Delhi as its first stop, Sonia consented to speak about her fabled mother-in-law. At Allahabad's Swaraj Bhawan, where Indira was born to Jawaharlal and Kamala Nehru, Sonia recounted her days and years with one of India's most famous and dashing prime ministers. 

Here are the top takes that Sonia Gandhi narrated on all things Indira. From dismissing Modi to recalling the harrowing moments of Indira Gandhi's terrible death, it was a heartening and warm conversation that the Congress president had with Rajdeep Sardesai.

Read on for the highlights.

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Congress president Sonia Gandhi speaks to Rajdeep Sardesai at Swaraj Bhawan, Allahabad. [Photo: India Today/YouTube screengrab]   

On first meeting Indira: Mrs Gandhi spoke to the young Sonia Maino in French because her prospective daughter-in-law's English wasn't very good. Moreover, and very people really know this, according to Sonia Gandhi, Indira was a reluctant politician, whose first instinct was, in fact, not to join politics.

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In fact, it is widely known that Sonia did not want even husband Rajiv to embrace politics and its chaotic life. She says: "When Indira Gandhi wanted Rajiv to be her political heir, I was completely, completely against it. But she allowed the two of us to work it out between ourselves. She allowed us a lot of privacy, no 24X7 invasive TV."

Her family was worried about Sonia going away to India, but Indira really was kind to her.

Central ideals of Indira Gandhi: According to Sonia, secularism, in the classical sense of the term, was at the centre of Indira Gandhi's vision of India. It wasn't minority appeasement at all. She regarded all religions as equal, all Indians the same, regardless of their backgrounds. She was seen celebrating Eid, as well as all the Hindu festivals. There was a genuine commitment to all the citizens. No votebank politics.

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Blackest point of Indira's career: The high was the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war and the low was the Emergency. But according to Sonia Gandhi: "If she had not felt extremely uncomfortable with Emergency, she wouldn't have called for the elctions in 1977. I remember Rajiv'ji was a pilot, he'd meet up people, passenger. He'd tell his mother and she would think about it."

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Congress president Sonia Gandhi recounts her trysts with the legendary Indira Gandhi. [Photo: India Today/YouTube screengrab] 

She recounts how warm the relationship was between her and her mother-in-law.

On Indira's toughness and Gandhi dynasty: When Sardesai asked her whether Congress needs someoene like Indira now - the tough competitive leader, to take on Modi - Sonia had a ready answer. "Indira was ridiculed, insulted at first. Called Gungi Gudiya, even within her party, more than outside."

So did she learn that from Mrs Gandhi? Sonia says she too was attacked. Today, Rahul is being attacked.

Is it the same story? Is it more competitive now? Sonia Gandhi says, "Every sort of era has its own problems, leader, its own opposition. Subconsciously I did imbibe somethings, but I never really studied her. Rahul and Priyanka have not had sheltered lives. So much more is expected of us because we have a certain surname, because we belong to a certain family."

On Modi's comparison with Indira: Sonia Gandhi vehemently denies there's any comparison. She's taciturn about it, but extremely assertive and clear as well.

On Congress' plight: "I think it's absolutely possible that we will come out from 44 seats. You come up in power, you go down. It's life."

On Priyanka resembling Indira: "Every one of us has been influenced by Indira."

On Indira Gandhi's assassination: "From seeing her first in 1960s London to seeing her die in her arms on October 31, 1984, in Safdurjung hospital.  It was a difficult day. I heard these noises. I thought it was Diwali pataka. I saw this lady, she came back howling. Indira expected it. We saw her body riddled with bullets. No ambulance. We put her in the ambulance, braved the traffic. It was a terrible loss for me, for Rajiv, for Rahul and Priyanka."

Indira's biggest contribution: "Loyalty and devotion to the people of India. Deep compassion, empathy for the underdog. Something missing in today's politics."

India had a woman prime minister in 1960s, while America is struggling to elect a female head of state. Was Indira Gandhi a feminist? Did she feel the pinch of being a woman in a male-dominated cabinet, or was she, as the saying goes, the "only man in her cabinet"?

Sonia Gandhi is direct: "She never felt she was a woman amidst her male colleagues. She felt equal."

On 1971 war: "She was genuinely pained by suffering by Bangladeshis, people of East Pakistan. She did not see herself as Ma Durga." 

On Indira's patriotism: "She was completely devoted to India. She gave up, everthing including her own life. She participated in freedom struggle. It was everything. Patriotism meant the world to her. She saw them all. All the stalwarts of freedom movement. Allahabad was the centre where they used to meet and strategise." 

On Indira Gandhi's letter writing and passions: "She had very acute sense of humour. She was a wonderful letter writer. To friends, colleagues, family friends, interested in everything and everybody, classical music, art, heritage, folk art and music, environment, flowers, trees, mountains. We still miss her."

As Sardesai said, a 2006 poll found that Indira Gandhi was still the most recognised politician that India had ever produced. That was over 22 years since the enigmatic leader's death. As Sonia Gandhi flags off the travelling exhibition to mark the centennial celebrations of Indira Gandhi's birth anniversary, her shadow still looms large over Congress and the Gandhi family.

It's a ghost of a dear leader who died for the country.

You read the entire transcript of her interview here.

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Also read: Was Indira Gandhi's cabinet rigged by a mole during 1971 War?

Watch: Sonia Gandhi to India Today: Don't write off Congress yet #SoniaSpeaksUp

Last updated: November 22, 2016 | 15:44
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