By all accounts, it was an impressive road show. The optics were hugely encouraging. But what happened in Varanasi on Tuesday should worry the Congress more.
As Sonia Gandhi fell ill midway through the programme and eventually had to be airlifted to the Army Research and Referral Hospital in the Capital via a chartered flight cutting short her Varanasi outreach, it became clear as daylight just how much the moribund party is dependent on its president. The last of the Mohicans capable of bearing the weight of Gandhi surname.
Traversing the same route in the ancient city that propelled bête noire Narendra Modi to power in 2014, an ailing Sonia Gandhi kicked off her party's campaign for the 2017 Assembly polls in a state where it last enjoyed power 27 years ago when mobile phones were unheard of and BR Chopra's Mahabharata was still playing on TV.
The setback has been turned around by Prashant Kishor into a catchy slogan - 27 saal, UP behaal - but there is only so much that a hired poll strategist can do. He can't win you elections.
Sonia Gandhi can. Presumably. Which is why against her doctor's advice, a gritty Sonia took part in a roadshow flanked by thousands of fervent Congress workers from the Circuit House to Englishiya Line, a distance of about eight kilometres.
Kishor has it covered. The plan is simple. Claim a slice of the Brahmin vote pie that BJP is slowly bleeding away. Woo the Dalits to consolidate the Dalit-Muslim votebank.
One of the interesting things about the Congress party is that despite facing a massive erosion of mass base and near total extinction of national footprint, it still retains a core fluidity. This plasticity makes it possible for the Congress to tune its shape and ideology in accord with poll strategies.
Simply put, unlike the BJP, Congress can run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. So it can remain a "secular party" for Muslims and yet adopt a soft Hindutva line to woo the Brahmins.
Sonia's schedule, therefore, was instructive. The eight-km rally that began at around 2 pm had the first stop at Ambedkar Chowk where the Congress president paid floral tribute to father of the Indian Constitution. Her itinerary also included a visit to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, two meet-the-press events and then a stopover at the statue of former Congress politician Kamlapathi Tripathi, a Brahmin and a local minor deity.
UP's five-time MLA Ajay Rai who now represents the Pindra constituency and is known for his organizational strengths, had mobilized a sizeable throng that surged and gave full-throated slogans as Sonia reciprocated with gusto, standing on the SUV door and waving to the crowd that stretched a kilometre beyond her vehicle.
From the 'minority' stretch starting from Nadesar to Ghausabad to Pili Kothi where rose petals were showered from rooftops and chants of "Sonia Gandhi-Congress zindabad" rang loud to the "Hindu" areas of Maidagin, Bisheshwarganj where priests stood chanting Sanskrit mantras through blaring loudspeakers, the entire show was impressively planned and executed.
But after she had garlanded the Ambedkar statue and before her cavalcade could wind its way towards the Kashi Vishwanath temple she was overcome by high fever and vomiting that triggered a mini-emergency. Sonia was immediately taken to Babatpur airport to take a return flight to Delhi but was admitted to the VIP lounge inside the airport premises and administered intravenous fluids.
The nature of the indisposition still remains unclear but the 69-year-old Congress president, whose chartered flight landed in Delhi around midnight before she was taken to the hospital, was reportedly stable.
Comments from senior party functionaries and family members indicate the extent to which Sonia stretched herself despite being unwell.
UP Congress chief Raj Babbar told Times of India that Sonia had fever for the past three days but had decided to go ahead with the road show."While she was keen on the temple visit, the doctor accompanying her advised against it," he added. Ajay Rai said, "She was running high fever. It was decided that she fly back to Delhi."
While waiting with her brother Rahul for Sonia to land at Delhi airport, Priyanka Gandhi said: "She was unwell for a couple of days. But since the programme was there, she was very keen to go. I think it was maybe a little strenuous."
Pushing 70 and indisposed, it would have been understandable had Sonia given the road show a miss. But while it shows her commitment and energy, it equally points to the crisis in leadership within Congress. Sonia apparently is keen on her son taking over the mantle but evidently suffers still from a lack of confidence in the president-in-waiting. Despite all the brouhaha, this should worry the party.
As Sonia Gandhi fell ill midway through the programme and eventually had to be airlifted to the Army Research and Referral Hospital in the Capital via a chartered flight cutting short her Varanasi outreach, it became clear as daylight just how much the moribund party is dependent on its president. The last of the Mohicans capable of bearing the weight of Gandhi surname.
Traversing the same route in the ancient city that propelled bête noire Narendra Modi to power in 2014, an ailing Sonia Gandhi kicked off her party's campaign for the 2017 Assembly polls in a state where it last enjoyed power 27 years ago when mobile phones were unheard of and BR Chopra's Mahabharata was still playing on TV.
The setback has been turned around by Prashant Kishor into a catchy slogan - 27 saal, UP behaal - but there is only so much that a hired poll strategist can do. He can't win you elections.
Sonia Gandhi can. Presumably. Which is why against her doctor's advice, a gritty Sonia took part in a roadshow flanked by thousands of fervent Congress workers from the Circuit House to Englishiya Line, a distance of about eight kilometres.
Kishor has it covered. The plan is simple. Claim a slice of the Brahmin vote pie that BJP is slowly bleeding away. Woo the Dalits to consolidate the Dalit-Muslim votebank.
One of the interesting things about the Congress party is that despite facing a massive erosion of mass base and near total extinction of national footprint, it still retains a core fluidity. This plasticity makes it possible for the Congress to tune its shape and ideology in accord with poll strategies.
Simply put, unlike the BJP, Congress can run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. So it can remain a "secular party" for Muslims and yet adopt a soft Hindutva line to woo the Brahmins.
Sonia's schedule, therefore, was instructive. The eight-km rally that began at around 2 pm had the first stop at Ambedkar Chowk where the Congress president paid floral tribute to father of the Indian Constitution. Her itinerary also included a visit to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, two meet-the-press events and then a stopover at the statue of former Congress politician Kamlapathi Tripathi, a Brahmin and a local minor deity.
UP's five-time MLA Ajay Rai who now represents the Pindra constituency and is known for his organizational strengths, had mobilized a sizeable throng that surged and gave full-throated slogans as Sonia reciprocated with gusto, standing on the SUV door and waving to the crowd that stretched a kilometre beyond her vehicle.
From the 'minority' stretch starting from Nadesar to Ghausabad to Pili Kothi where rose petals were showered from rooftops and chants of "Sonia Gandhi-Congress zindabad" rang loud to the "Hindu" areas of Maidagin, Bisheshwarganj where priests stood chanting Sanskrit mantras through blaring loudspeakers, the entire show was impressively planned and executed.
But after she had garlanded the Ambedkar statue and before her cavalcade could wind its way towards the Kashi Vishwanath temple she was overcome by high fever and vomiting that triggered a mini-emergency. Sonia was immediately taken to Babatpur airport to take a return flight to Delhi but was admitted to the VIP lounge inside the airport premises and administered intravenous fluids.
The nature of the indisposition still remains unclear but the 69-year-old Congress president, whose chartered flight landed in Delhi around midnight before she was taken to the hospital, was reportedly stable.
Comments from senior party functionaries and family members indicate the extent to which Sonia stretched herself despite being unwell.
UP Congress chief Raj Babbar told Times of India that Sonia had fever for the past three days but had decided to go ahead with the road show."While she was keen on the temple visit, the doctor accompanying her advised against it," he added. Ajay Rai said, "She was running high fever. It was decided that she fly back to Delhi."
While waiting with her brother Rahul for Sonia to land at Delhi airport, Priyanka Gandhi said: "She was unwell for a couple of days. But since the programme was there, she was very keen to go. I think it was maybe a little strenuous."
Pushing 70 and indisposed, it would have been understandable had Sonia given the road show a miss. But while it shows her commitment and energy, it equally points to the crisis in leadership within Congress. Sonia apparently is keen on her son taking over the mantle but evidently suffers still from a lack of confidence in the president-in-waiting. Despite all the brouhaha, this should worry the party.