New Delhi, May 24 :
A week after Sonia Gandhi quit as Congress president, she returned to the helm tonight, giving gasping followers a fresh lease of life, but handing her adversaries another chance to dub her a power-hungry sensationalist.
A triumphant Pranab Mukherjee announced Sonia Gandhi?s return at a hastily summoned press conference, saying: ?We told Soniaji that she was indispensable and she has withdrawn her resignation.?
Sonia Gandhi will preside over the AICC session tomorrow. Initially called to deal with the crisis triggered by her resignation, tomorrow?s session will now provide indications of Sonia Gandhi?s future course. Her speech is likely to be a response to the Sharad Pawar-led clique?s charges against her.
Sources said she will address the issue of her foreign origin tomorrow and indicate how she views the Congress? projection of her as Prime Minister.
Party sources said Sonia Gandhi decided to take back her resignation after this evening?s CWC instead of tomorrow because she was told by leaders that they were expecting trouble if she did not preside over the AICC session.
In a show of helplessness and loyalty, senior CWC members admitted they had even failed to resolve elementary issues such as who should hoist the flag and who should preside over the AICC in her absence.
?Congress delegates are extremely charged and they would not settle for anything less than your presence,? AICC general secretary Ambika Soni told Sonia Gandhi, handing her fax messages from all over the country.
But Sonia Gandhi?s return has been prompted by reasons other than just shows of loyalty to 10 Janpath over the past week. She apprehended that the Congress will quickly disintegrate without her, robbing her of an opportunity to keep the Nehru-Gandhi stakes alive in Indian politics.
Soon after Mukherjee?s announcement, 10 Janpath and 24 Akbar Road burst into jubilation. Party workers hugged each other, burst crackers, distributed laddoos and exclaimed: ?Hamari bhookh hartal safal hui(Our hunger-strike has been a success).?
Sonia Gandhi?s adversaries pounced on the announcement and hit out at her. While the BJP said it was the ?end of Sonia Gandhi?s theatricals?, expelled leader Sharad Pawar said: ?It was only expected. The resignation and withdrawal were aimed at diverting attention from basic issues raised by us. The entire show seen in the past few days seems to have been stage-managed.?
The drama ended in a bit of an anti-climax when the CWC met in the evening and passed a resolution requesting her to withdraw her resignation. As if on cue, Sonia Gandhi responded positively to the appeal.
Party leaders said once they got the feeling that Sonia Gandhi was willing to attend the AICC meet, they stepped up pressure on her to announce the decision today. ?Now the AICC session will be business-like and send a clear message to the nation and the party workers that the Congress under Sonia Gandhi is all set to lead the nation,? a leader said.
He said Sonia Gandhi was against the drama being planned for tomorrow. The Congress leaders had thought of keeping a vacant space for the party president and then marching to her residence. They had also planned to lay siege to 10 Janpath.
Many non-political persons had also urged Sonia Gandhi to fight her battle politically. ?Let the people of India decide about your foreign origin,? a well-known historian had told her.
By withdrawing her resignation, Sonia Gandhi has taken a calculated risk. She may have succeeded in containing rebellion in the aftermath of the revolt by the trio, but she has the formidable task of leading the party at a time when the BJP?s campaign against her Italian roots seems to be gaining currency.
If the Congress fails to win in the polls, her leadership will come under attack. Barring her own party, its allies and the Left twins, all other parties plan to make her foreign origin a poll issue. Even former Prime Minister V.P. Singh, who was seen as being increasingly soft on Sonia Gandhi, has questioned her credentials.
A revamp of the Congress, including the CWC, is on the cards as Sonia Gandhi has been advised to head a ?new Congress?.
Friday, 12 September 2025