INDIAN MEDIA'S REVERENCE TO 10 JANPATH

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London-based and most respected financial daily, The Financal Times, referring to the ‘disappearing act’ of Congress chief and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her heir apparent son and daughter from India, said that the Indian media is quite respctful to the Nehru dynasty. How true it is. The context for the daily to make such a reference to the Indian media was the abrupt cancellation of British Prime Minister David Cameron's appointment with the Chairperson of UPA and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and the Indian media's respect for her right to privacy. For more than a week (as I write this column) Sonia was not to be seen in public or in the stormy session of the Lok Sabha.

For a flippant media which reports about the wedding sari of junior NTR’s would -be wife, or the suicide of some model in Mumbai or what a defunct Russian portal reports, the secrecy behind the whereabouts of one of the most powerful women in the world is NOT news!! Do you remember? When Atal Behari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, even his routine visit to hospital for a check-up would create grave doubts in the media about his "failing health". So was the case with regard to PV Narasimha Rao as well. But Sonia Gandhi stands on a different pedestal for the media.

There were sketchy reports in one or two dailies that Sonia’s mother might be seriously ill and that must have prompted the Italian-born Indian National Congress chief to rush to be with her. A perfectly understandable and quite natural sentiment for any human being irrespective of the nationality or the position one holds. But should it be kept a secret unless you are flustered about your roots. People of India have accepted Sonia as a naturalised Indian citizen. Then, why should she be reticent? That is her personality. Except for election meetings, have you ever seen her interacting with the media on a regular basis espcially when she heads a party that has been ruling the nation for most part of the six decades, and especially so when she is also the chairperson of the ruling UPA.

The other charitable explanation that was given for the “missing act” , especially when the Parliament is in session and the country is in a state of turmoil on various fronts, is that she might be busy with “match-making” for her most eligible bachelor son. Assuming that this could be nearer to truth, why should it be under wraps, unless there was a fear that his former girl friend whom he was dating for years, might create hurdles.

Yet another excuse for the “unspecified emergency”, as reported by the UK daily, was that Sonia herself could be ill. If this can be given any credence, it is all the more reason there should be no veil of secrecy. She is not just the daughter of a soldier in Mussolini’s army taken captive by Russian army. She is the prima donna of contemporary Indian politics wielding extra-ordinary powers and slavish adulation by her partymen. People of this country should know what exactly is her problem.

You may wonder why the British daily took pains to report her “missing act” in detail. It is because just a day before her scheduled appointment with the British Premier Cameron, the meeting was cancelled citing “unspecified emergency”.

Anyway, for Indian media it is no NEWS. Television channels notorious for trivialisation of news did not go anywhere near this story.

Though media failed to take note of Sonia’s “missing act”, the wily Congress party was not perhaps sure whether the people (atleast the vocal minority) will have the same respectful attitude to the occupants of 10 Janpath, especially when three or four major issues are confronting the nation – Price rise and its fall out in Parliament, burning of Kashmir, internal disarray in the Congress party and Indo-Pak relations.

How to ensure that Sonia’s views on these issues are conveyed to the people of this country so that they don’t notice her “absence from the scene of action”? The party’s PR managers and spin masters came out with a brilliant idea. They caught hold of the July issue of party’s mouthpiece – SANDESH – and excerpted different pieces for circulation among the national media as fresh news items as though Sonia made those statements a day earlier. The Hindu carried a story headlined “Focus on J&K Development: Sonia”, (Source: Sonia’s letter to her fellow Congress workers in SANDESH. ) So, an impression was sought to be given that Sonia did not neglect the serious issue in J&K. Times of India addressed her concern on the internal bickerings among ministers while carrying a story :”Curb ego, Cong tells mantris”. Source? SANDESH again!

What about fuel price hike and the resultant inflation? How can the Congress chief be silent on this whether she is physically present in Delhi or visible in the corridors of Parliament or not? The New Indian Express came to the rescue of the party. The daily carried a story “Fuel price hike to fund Centre’s social sector schemes”. Source? What else? SANDESH!

The only sinner seems to be Deccan Chronicle which somehow missed out the story to register Sonia’s presence in India through her contributions to the party magazine.

Interestingly, there was no reference to the Commonwealth Games scandal in Sonia’s statements for the simple reason that the issue of SANDESH from where excerpts were circulated belonged to the month of July and the CWG scam broke out only last week.