Political overtones to Sonia's Kumbh visit

By Neena Vyas

KUMBH NAGAR (Allahabad), JAN. 21. The proposed visit of the Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, here tomorrow morning is fast becoming a political issue. Will she be coming here to send a message that she has embraced Hinduism? Will the visit send a signal that she is certainly no longer a ``foreigner'' but a person who has accepted Indian culture and traditions?

Some political leaders feel her visit will be symbolic. ``She wants to send out a message that she is not alien to India, that she belongs here, that she wants to be where the masses are, she wants to mix with the people and with the sadhus and sants of this country, that she has accepted Hinduism as her own religion,'' says Mr. Reoti Raman Singh, Samajwadi Party leader and MLA in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. But he adds: ``Whatever she may do, the fact is that she does not have an appeal, her inability to speak Hindi fluently, to hold a conversation in Hindi, comes in the way.'' His view is that it is not mother Sonia, but daughter Priyanka who is ``the crowd puller''.

Mr. Pramod Tiwari, Congress Legislature Party leader in the State Assembly, is certain the visit will take place and ``she will go to the Sangam, (the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati)'' but whether or not she takes a holy dip at the Sangam will entirely be a personal choice, he adds.

The district administration has not yet cleared her visit. The reason being given is that no VIPs are being allowed to visit as it would disturb the arrangements. Too much attention gets diverted to VIPs, some police officers have said.

But Mr. Tiwari thinks this is a lame excuse. ``We will take strong exception to the fact that the Union Minister, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, was allowed to go to the Sangam on January 14, one of the main bathing days, and Soniaji is being disallowed.'' He points out that tomorrow, when she proposes to visit, is not one of the main bathing days. Moreover, she will not be addressing any public meeting and ``we are ready to accommodate the district administration on the timing of the visit and the route to be taken. We are even ready for her to go to the Sangam by boat so that she does not have to enter the Mela grounds,'' he adds.

If Ms. Gandhi was not permitted to go to the Sangam, the Congress would protest, he said. ``Why the double standards? If no VIPs are being allowed why was Dr. Joshi permitted to go and why have half-a-dozen State Ministers been allowed?'' The Mela is open to one and all, irrespective of caste or faith, and the Congress will not tolerate the BJP-led district administration creating a wrong precedent. ``It is not the administration but its political bosses who are coming in the way,'' he says.

The reaction of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal leaders was rather low-key. Acharya Giriraj Kishore, VHP general secretary, said the visit would be welcomed. ``If she feels like a Hindu from her heart why should we object?'' But Mr. Surendra Jain, Bajrang Dal chief, said, ``if she is coming to purify herself and take the Congress down the Hindutva road, we have no objection. We are glad she is recognising Hindutva to be the national mainstream, that she may learn that Babri aggressiveness (Muslim fundamentalism) is not the mainstream.'' After a dip in the Sangam, Ms. Gandhi should ``help build the Ram temple at Ayodhya'', he added.

Ms. Gandhi's programme includes a visit to Anand Bhavan, ancestral home of the Nehrus, a visit to the Sewa Dal camp at the Kumbh Mela, a visit to the Sangam, and perhaps a visit to the Shankaracharya of Jyotishpeeth, Swaroopanand Saraswati.

The VHP is trying to spread the view that the Jyotishpeeth Shankaracharya was a Congressman, but at the Shankaracharya's camp it was pointed out that two days ago the State Assembly Speaker, Mr. Kesri Nath Tripathi, visited the Shankaracharya. ``Does that make him a BJP follower? Anyone is free to come here for a darshan. If Ms. Gandhi comes she too will be welcome.''

Visit confirmed

Our New Delhi Special Correspondent writes:

Ms. Sonia Gandhi will go to Allahabad tomorrow for the Kumbh Mela, it has been confirmed. Her visit had sparked a controversy, with the district administration expressing ``inability'' to provide adequate security during the visit.

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