Ambika Soni makes a comeback

It has always been well known in Congress circles, that senior leader Ambika Soni is amongst the closest to the Gandhi family. This fact was reiterated on Friday when despite her declaration of withdrawing herself from active politics, Soni was appointed as the chairperson of the Constitution Amendment Committee for the 85th Plenary session of the AICC to be held in Raipur later this month.
Soni’s rise in Congress politics has been gradual but her proximity to Sonia Gandhi in particular was always well recognised; soon after she took over as the party president on 14 March 1998, Sonia selected her as her political secretary. This position was later shared by her with the late Ahmed Patel.
The underlying message of her being assigned a new role is that she would continue to play a major part in the party affairs and her advice would always be sought by the high command in choosing the new team as well as on important matters.
Soni’s closeness to the Gandhis can be gauged by the fact that in 2007 when Pratibha Patil was elected as the President of India, she was amongst the contenders considered by Sonia Gandhi. The first option that time was to appoint Shivraj Patil, whose candidacy was shot down by CPI leader A.B. Bardhan. Dr Karan Singh’s name came up for discussion and Bardhan again vetoed it on the ground that appointing a Maharaja would send a wrong signal.
There was a break in the meeting and Sonia called Ambika Soni, since some of the leaders suggested that there should a woman President. Soni was in Kashmir, travelling with Ghulam Nabi Azad in a helicopter and could hardly make out what was being conveyed to her. She informed the then Congress chief that she would call once she returned to an area with better connectivity. In the meanwhile, Soni’s detractors got the opportunity to eliminate her name and came up with the suggestion of making Pratibha Patil, who later occupied the august office.
During the controversial Congress Working Committee meeting earlier when the question of Sonia’s foreign origin was raised by some of the leaders including Sharad Pawar, Tariq Anwar and P.A. Sangma, Soni was the only one who defended Sonia and took on the trio. This action brought her even closer to the Congress president.
Even in 2021, when the party took a decision to replace Captain Amarinder Singh as the Punjab Chief Minister, Rahul Gandhi asked Soni to take over. She declined on the ground that in her opinion only a Sikh should hold that office. This was perhaps a decision which many considered was wrong, since the Captain would have accepted her as his successor and would have never left the party.
Senior Punjab leader Sunil Jakhar till this day remains critical of Soni and holds her responsible, for denying him the opportunity, though it is difficult to believe that he could have been chosen by the MLAs.
The consequence of the decision was that a fragmented Congress lost in the state to the Aam Aadmi Party after many senior functionaries quit to form an alliance with the BJP or join the saffron brigade.
On Thursday, at the annual lunch hosted by former Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda at his residence, Soni was amongst the most sought-after persons by the media. Many senior journalists recalled her innings as the media in-charge and how she would convey in a subtle manner the thinking of the party high command.
A product of Delhi University, Soni shifted to Cuba with her husband, who was posted there in the 1960s. It was there she became interested in politics and also came in contact with the Castro brothers, who were a big influence on her during her formative years.
It was in 1969 Soni was in Rome along with her husband when Indira Gandhi was on an official visit. She asked her to accompany her back to India at the behest of her adviser P.N. Haksar. Once back in the national capital, she was assigned party work and subsequently assisted New Delhi MP, Mukul Banerjee in the International Relations department of the AICC. During this period, she came closer to Indira Gandhi, who then appointed her first as the general secretary of the Indian Youth Congress and later as its president to replace Priya Ranjan Das Munshi. In the IYC, which operated from 10, Janpath at the time, Soni was considered as a major influence on the late Sanjay Gandhi. She was one of the most powerful persons during the Emergency and also campaigned for Sanjay in Amethi in 1977 along with Kamal Nath and Akbar Ahmed, his two close buddies.
However, politics took a huge turn and she quit the Congress during the Janata period and came close to the former Karnataka Chief Minister, Devraj Urs. It was a big struggle after that and she spent many years in wilderness before making a comeback to the Congress some years later when Rajiv Gandhi was the party chief.
Soni has never looked back since then and according to the Congress grapevine, she is one of the few persons Sonia and the two Gandhi siblings, Rahul and Priyanka, fully trust. She has always been a voice whose opinion is sought behind the public glare by the high command.
Soni enjoys a close rapport with many senior functionaries and this would enable her to play a larger role in party affairs. Between us.