The Gandhi name reappears

Dynastic politics is a familiar phenomenon in Asia. From the Bandaranaikes and Senanayakes of Sri Lanka to the Gandhis of India, the Bhuttos of Pakistan and Sheikhs of Bangladesh, political succession has often remained a family monopoly. One would have expected die-hard communist states not to succumb to such political propensities. Yet even Stalinist North Korea saw power passing from father to son.

In that sense, Sonia Gandhi's decision to campaign at the next election on behalf of the Congress Party of India is no surprise though belated. After all, it was a party that her late husband Rajiv, a former prime minister of India, led. So did her mother- in-law Indira Gandhi, while Indira Gandhi's father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was independent India's first prime minister.

Yet why she chose to enter the political arena at this particular moment is puzzling. Since her husband's assassination during an election campaign in 1991 by Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers, the Congress Party has tried to tempt the Italian-born Sonia to pick up the reins from Rajiv. She steadfastly refused. They tried to tempt her daughter but failed again.

Why the old Congress Party leadership wanted Rajiv Gandhi's widow on center stage was clear enough. The Gandhi name then still carried national political clout.

Now, when a degenerate, dispirited and divided Congress Party is fighting what many observers believe is a losing battle, Sonia Gandhi emerges from behind the political backdrop. Why? Her intentions remain unclear right now. If she is merely giving the Congress Party a helping hand it is one thing. If she has political ambitions, on the other hand, would mainly Hindu India, secular though it is, be ready to accept a Italian Catholic as the possible leader of the country?

-- The Hong Kong Standard