Pune’s two-hour wait for Sonia’s ten-minute speech

PUNE, February 26: She conquered even before she arrived. And oh, how they waved and cheered. Truly, the Sonia mania gripped the city like n...

PUNE, February 26: She conquered even before she arrived. And oh, how they waved and cheered. Truly, the Sonia mania gripped the city like never before. Right from the moment she alighted from the helicopter, ran up the stairs onto the dais, coughed a bit, waved enthusiastically, looked on indulgently as a shy Rahul Gandhi wore the Puneri pagadi and wove her way into the hearts of nearly four lakh people with her Indira Gandhi style mantra of Jab tak saans rahegi, desh ke adarsh nibhati rahungi.

The enthusiasm was infectious. The crowd was lively. Truckloads of them blocked all the routes leading to a `Vive La Sonia’ rally, at Kedarinagar, Wanowrie. AICC spokesman V N Gadgil, described her as a streak of lightning, a thunderbolt from the sky, the unbeatable Jhansi Ki Rani. Rightly so! After all, there was 70-year old Annie Fernandes, a Camp resident who walked it to the ground all alone simply because she loves the Gandhi family.

“Dearie, I can’t sit on the floor, can you get me a chair?” Annie’s pleawas immediately answered as she waited patiently for the drone of the helicopter.

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One false start had even Senior Congress leader Sharad Pawar squinting his eyes at the helicopter — albeit not Sonia’s — and repeatedly asking the exuberant lot to sit down. “ Madam is just coming”. The two-hour wait was worth it. Sister Santan of the Fatimanagar convent wanted to know what it was that Sonia would actually tell the Puneites.

“Look, Rajiv’s death was a great blow to Sonia who went into hibernation for seven years. But it was because of the people of the country that the lady decided to take the reigns in her hand, salvage the Congress and reach out,” Sister Santan reflects. Pawar managed to hook the audience with his thunderous lashing of Atal Behari Vajpayee, Bal Thackeray, for nearly an hour. But where was Sonia?

If policemen had a tough time restraining the crowd’s frenzy, then every move of Sonia’s — even the slight turning of her head, accepting garlands, and orchestrating the now familiar Soniahand wave — did not go unnoticed. Her 10-minute speech in flawless Hindi with a slight accent had the people eating out of her hands. So much so that a minor disturbance caused by a young man waving a black cloth went unnoticed, even though he was violently dragged aside by a vigilant police.

The pin-drop silence when she spoke about her willingness to cherish and follow the ideals laid down by mother-in-law Indira Gandhi and husband Rajiv till her last breath, spoke volumes. The Congress and Republican flags flapped conspicuously in the wind. Sonia Gandhi left 20-odd minutes after she staged a grant entry. Did they love Sonia? Sure thing they did!