Sonia Gandhi returns to India after US surgery
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INDIA, SEP 08 -
Sonia Gandhi, the key powerbroker of Indian politics, has returned home after undergoing surgery in the United States five weeks ago for an undisclosed condition.
Gandhi, president of the ruling Congress party, was absent during a difficult period for the government with a deadly bombing in New Delhi and the sudden emergence of a nationwide anti-corruption protest movement.
The 64-year-old widow of former premier Rajiv Gandhi is the influential patron behind Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and she is widely thought to lead the government on daily and strategic decisions.
"Sonia Gandhi arrived early this morning, she is doing fine," Congress spokesman Janardan Dwivedi told AFP without giving further details about her recovery.
Party officials announced on August 4 that Gandhi had been operated on in the US. Since then there has been a total news blackout on her condition and even where she was admitted to hospital.
Italian-born Gandhi is often said to be preparing the ground for her only son Rahul to become prime minister at some stage after premier Singh, 78, steps down.
Rahul, 41, who sits in the lower house of parliament, has had joint charge of the Congress party while his mother has been away, but he adopted a low profile during a government crisis over mass anti-corruption protests.
Authorities were criticised for making several blunders in dealing with popular anti-graft activist Anna Hazare, who went on a 13-day hunger strike at a public venue in New Delhi.
Hazare was given a blaze of publicity when police briefly arrested him, while premier Singh seemed unable to respond to the huge public protests that erupted in support of the campaign.
Singh, a taciturn former academic, at first denounced Hazare in parliament before changing his tune and trying to end Hazare's public fast by showering him with praise.
The government is also under pressure over security failures after a bomb outside the New Delhi High Court on Wednesday killed 12 people and injured nearly 80.
India has been hit by a series of bomb attacks in recent years, many of which remain unsolved.
"Sonia Gandhi's role is substantial and strategic at both party and national level and her absence was clearly felt," V.R. Raghavan, director of the Delhi Policy Group think-tank, told AFP.
"What has been missing during the last weeks was a guiding hand. She might have been tougher or more tolerant with Hazare, but without her, the government looks discordant and was pulling in different directions."
Raghavan added that Gandhi, who was thrust into politics after the assassination of her husband, commands complete loyalty in the Congress party and is responsible for all senior ministerial appointments.
She led the left-leaning Congress to a surprise win in 2004 elections, but its second term since 2009 has been beset by corruption scandals, slowing economic growth and accusations of weak leadership.
The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, which has no link to independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, has exerted great influence in India since Jawaharlal Nehru became the country's first prime minister after independence from Britain in 1947.
Posted on: 2011-09-08 03:48
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