She came, she saw, but left those that she came to see wondering why she came at all. Sonia Gandhi, who is now trying out a new style of campaigning, where she drives between the small towns on her route rather than flying, got a great turnout of residents in western Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, although she left most of them visibly disappointed. The reason? Even though people had gathered on her route early in the day, and waited for hours for her, they hardly got a glimpse of Sonia through the bulletproof glass of her Ambassador. She didn't address any crowds, she didn't shake any hands, she didn't even get out of her car on her route from Bulandshahr to Aligarh. "Kachu na kahi, Ram-ram to kar jaati (She didn't say anything, she could have just said hello)," said 75-year-old Dhoomal Mann, a farmer from Khurja, who had waited three hours for a glimpse of the lady who whizzed by him in her motorcade. Mann, however, said his vote would go to her anyway, as she belonged to the Nehru family. What about the foreigner issue, you ask. "She lives in this country, so she belongs to this country," was his simple reply. Others weren't quite so understanding. Ismail Ahmed, a Bulandshahr businessmen, felt Sonia's inaccessibility could mean the Congress's downfall in the election. "We have all been waiting so long. She could have at least pulled down her window so we could see her. If she is so worried for her life, why is she in politics?" Ahmed was not alone in his anger against Sonia's prohibitive security arrangements. Party insiders say Congress workers have been complaining about the rings of security around their leader as well. One of the biggest problems, they say, is they are not given Sonia's schedule more than 24 hours before the event, thus giving them very little time to make arrangements. In Bulandshahr, for example, local Congressmen had arranged for Sonia to stop and garland a bust of Bhagat Singh in the main square. Even the local police were expecting her to do this, and accordingly cleared the square of crowds. Congress officials then lined up to greet her all the way up to the statue she would garland. But, alas, due to security, time or other constraints, Sonia descended from her helicopter, got into a car, and drove off towards Khurja. Leaving her party workers feeling letdown, and open to a lot of ribbing by supporters of rival parties. Possibly the biggest scene was created in Aligarh. Upon arriving in the town, Sonia's cavalcade drove straight to the Circuit House at Dodhpur, into which she disappeared, meeting only a very select group of the Congress hierarchy. Local workers, whose disappointment at not getting any darshan of their leader, soon turned into anger, shouted slogans against her from outside the circuit house gates. A visibly harassed UP Congress chief Salman Khurshid tried to pacify everyone, with some result. So that when Sonia came out to wave at the crowds, their good-humour seemed to return, and they cheered and clapped for her. In a more amenable mood, Sonia then sat in the front of her car, so she was more visible to the crowds, much to the obvious chagrin of her protectors, the SPG. Even though Sonia may have upset some of her supporters here, she still does have a lot to be happy about. In an area where electoral fatigue is at its highest, and voter enthusiasm at its lowest (Home Minister L K Advani addressed an abysmally small audience in Bulandshahr on Thursday), Sonia was given a huge welcome at all her stops: Bulandhshahr, Khurja, Somnaa (Gabhaana) and Aligarh. "I am extremely happy and hopeful after seeing this response today," said the Congress leader, who was accompanied by her son Rahul. One of the reasons for the response, said Khurshid, is the return of the minority and upper caste Hindu vote in the state to the Congress. He did, however, admit he was worried about the splitting of the anti-BJP sentiment in the state three ways, between the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, and the Bahujan Samaj Party. "Even though our vote share will increase tremendously, we might still end up making another party (the BJP) win," he explained, referring to the 1998 general election in UP, when the three-way split in the so-called 'secular' vote ended up giving the Congress no seats in UP at all. With the campaign drawing to a close, both the BJP and the Congress are concentrating on UP. Sonia will tour the state extensively during the next fortnight, addressing several rallies a day, and covering ground at a frenetic pace. That may be because she has realised it isn't just a question of her election in Amethi, and a few others, but her party's political future that she is fighting for. If the Congress does well in UP (and wins at least 20, 25 seats), it has a chance at being a part of the next government in some form. If they don't, it loses all hope. For Sonia, Uttar Pradesh is her trial by fire. Suhasini Haidar has been a Sonia watcher for some years now.
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