Friday, March 24, 2006

Juanita Gandhi resigns again


I am taking you forward by 30 years. The date is March 24, 2036. Here’s the news column from that time.

Putting an end to the recent spate of allegations, Juanita Gandhi has offered her resignation from the post of MP from Rae Bareilly. This de facto leader of the nation has in the recent past already ‘sacrificed’ the post for PM and refused to become the leader of Congress Party resulting in massive popularity for her in this nation. Now, in response to new allegations regarding undisclosed assets in Colombia, her native nation, Juanita Gandhi has resigned from the post of MP, once again causing mass hysteria and protests across the nation which may bring Congress party back to power after the recent dismal defeat in the elections. Most of the analysts predict that she may not take up the position of PM (once gain) and instead would pave the way for her 27-year old son’s future (just like what Sonia Gandhi did for Rahul thirty years ago). The son, Arman Gandhi (whose purported actual name is Armanno, just like the way his dad’s was Raul and aunt’s was Bianca) grew up in Colombia since his mother spent most of the time in that nation.

There are many parallels to story of Sonia and Juanita. Rahul and Juanita met in Harvard while studying and got married in 2005 in a very closely guarded wedding ceremony held in Colombia. Though she spent her first three years in India while Rahul was canvassing for the next election, she decided to move to Colombia with her newly born son Arman. Rahul stayed back in India, won the sympathy of people by ‘sacrificing family life for the sake of the nation’, to become the next PM continuing the grand lineage of Gandhi family. Juanita was least interested in Indian politics and spent most of her time in Colombia away from her husband. There were many reports of her lavish life style where each of her trips to India resulted in a transfer of plane-full of goods. Rahul practically lived as a single man in India. Due to a sudden and massive cardiac arrest, Rahul died in 2031 plunging the nation into a mourning state. This event prompted Juanita and her son to come back to the country to attend the funeral during which the people of India (especially the Congress Party) requested and pleaded Juanita and her son Arman to embrace this country and lead it. They called her ‘Choti Bahu’ (since ‘Bahu’ was already taken up her mother-in-law Sonia Gandhi) and the history kind of repeated once again here. In the elections that followed Rahul’s death, the Congress party won by a huge majority resulting in beeline of Congress Party leaders at 10 Janpath, ancestral home of Gandhis, urging, lamenting and requesting Juanita to become the PM of the nation. In a major act of ‘sacrifice’ which closely resembled what Sonia did many years ago, she declined to lead the nation citing her ‘inner voice’ as the reason. That immediately led people to equate her to Mother Teresa, Annie Besant and her own mother-in-law Sonia Gandhi (now popularly revered as ‘Bahu of the nation’). She however stayed back in the country and ‘pledged to restore the greatness of Gandhi family’ and strove to work ‘for the betterment of the nation’. In the whole course of these proceedings, swept by the bereavement of the whole nation at the loss of its leader, nobody bothered to verify if Juanita was an Indian citizen. It was discovered that she never took up the Indian citizenship and she was practically an alien when she was offered the post of the PM. However, in a hush-hush affair, her citizenship was granted by passing a new ordinance in haste, which entitled a spouse automatic citizenship without voluntarily asking for it. Therefore, Juanita became the citizen of India long ago, when she married Rahul- without actually asking or applying for it. Having solved the legal issue of her citizenship, which haunted her mother-in-law long ago, she became the icon, the leader and champion of the Congress party. While Juanita and her newly formed coterie ruled the party and the politics Rajashekar became the puppet PM.

Her refusal to take up the role of PM is very similar to the first few sacrifices made by Sonia thirty years ago and it looks like Juanita has understood the pulse of Indian people much like her mother-in-law. She has refused to give any interviews and spoke from well-rehearsed and written speeches. She took on a low profile while promoting Arman for different cadre positions. She cited ‘her inner voice’ as explanation to many questions without ever having to be accountable or responsible for any decision or action of hers. This seems to have worked well for her mother-in-law and now it is working for Juanita Gandhi as well.

The present controversy, which alleges that Juanita has funneled funds into her native country, that she led a lavish life style where she owned palaces and estates, drove Ferraris and expensive cars, that she has one of the biggest jewelry collections in the world was swept aside by the power of ‘sacrifice’. Yesterday, she burst out in tears on TV while announcing her resignation of MP position saying that she was ‘hurt deeply by these accusations’ especially when she is still mourning her dead husband. She said that she was ‘deeply anguished’ by the ‘false allegations’ and that the only thing she could do was resign. When asked why she has resigned instead of facing the charges to clear her name using legal methods, she said that she has ‘listened to her inner voice’ and that she ‘cannot stoop to the level of the those who are giving bad name to Gandhi family’. She added that she 'would continue fighting for her family and for her nation’. Many analysts feel that she would contest when the allegations are swept under the carpet.

To those who were present during the Sonia Gandhi's ascendancy to the power 25 years when she nominated her son to the post of PM, this comes as complete playback. It looks like Juanita has mastered the art of seducing Indians just the way her mother-in-law has done using the power of ‘sacrifice’. Arman Gandhi is just waiting on the sidelines to get into the arena that her mom prepared.


8 comments:

  1. like the name Juanita. Sounds so Indianish!

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  2. Hey ur story does not say if Junaita, unlike her mother in law, had a beautiful daughter or not?

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  3. Sujai,

    I saw your blog, and was surprised because even I had thought on the same lines :-), and that is indeed a possibility.

    But regardless of that happening, I still believe that Mrs Sonia Gandhi has done the right thing and with right intentions!

    Everybody is entitled to his/her own opinion.

    Cheers

    my blog

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  4. A very correct appraisal of Indian mentality, especially Congress mentality.

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  5. you may find it of interest to see some articles on this at:
    www.india-awake.blogspot.com

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  6. Wow!! I will not be surprised if that actually happens...pity, we Indians feel grateful to the Gandhis even for having lived in this country (it's another story that they have their ulterior motives behind that).

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  7. simply awesome pa

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  8. True ... quite true bro....
    I couldn't agree more on your article....well written

    ReplyDelete

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