The front page of (the online edition) of today’s Indian Express can more appropriately be called Sonia Special. They chose it to caption Rule Sonia! Is India xenophobic? The heading gives away quite a bit. India is xenophobic because it didn’t allow Sonia to adorn the hallowed office of Prime Minister. Look at the image below and read the title-lines of each of the articles dedicated to Sonia.

It is now widely known that the Journalism of Pusillanimity has mortgaged itself to the Congress party, with Shekhar Gupta presiding over the deal. This momentous change first came to my knowledge when I read that Shekhar Gupta was, after probably scanning the entire (English) Indian media for suitable candidates, appointed the Public Relations Officer of the Congress party. From then on, the Journalism of Pusillanimity scaled heights upon heights of infamy. It is therefore no surprise that today’s edition carries far more fawning “articles” on Her Highness than ever before. The victim as usual, is the country. Damn India as xenophobic because it failed in its bounden duty to make Sonia the PM. And the twisted logic for the alleged xenophobia is here.

Elsewhere, the victory that threw up Tony Blair as the PM in Britain also churned up 6 Indian-origin triumphs - five from ruling Labour Party and one Conservative. Keith Vaz is a household name there, Bobby Jindal is on top of the world in US and in Canada are Members of Parliament Navdeep Singh Bains, Ruby Dhalla, Gurmant Singh Grewal, Nina Kaur Grewal and Gurbax Singh Malhi, and then there’s the ever-popular Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh - all taking themselves and their communities into power. And, we haven’t even mentioned Indians at the lower end of the political chain who are taking nascent steps to stardom.

True. Foreigners are being elected to legislatures the world over. Does the Journalism of Pusillanimity care to throw some light about their track records? Bobby Jindal, for example. From Gene Expression, a tidbit:

Back specifically to Jindal-his possible victory points to a mode of assimilation for new non-white minorities, especially ones who are economically successful[1]-he is a conservative Christian (though the top google news site for “bobby jindal” is an Indian operation!). I assumed that Jindal’s family was Christian when they came to the United States when I saw it mentioned that he was a Roman Catholic-there are a non-trivial number of Catholics in India, and a disproportionate number of Indian immigrants are Christian. But tonight after a little googling, I found that Bobby Jindal converted to Catholicism from Hinduism in college. His Indian American wife, Supriya Jolly, is also of that faith, and they are raising their daughter as a Catholic[2]. Additionally, it is curious that “Bobby” gave himself that name when was 5, his “real” name is “Piyush.” His brother Nikesh apparently does not go by “Nick.”

Things that make you go hhhmmm…. I don’t deny Bobby Jindal is sincere, but becoming a conservative Catholic while you are majoring in public policy and seem on the fast-track to prominence, added to the fact you are from a predominantly Catholic region of the country, seems a bit fortuitous to me. I am all for assimilation, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that Christian conversion as a path to acceptance kind leaves me a bit unenthusiastic… Bobby has been pushing his religious conservative creds by wooing the Christian Coalition (control-f “Christian Coalition”) & speaking about the importance of the Ten Commandments. Oh, and Creationism in the public schools, from a guy who studied Biology in college & almost went to medical school! All the hot-button issues….

Read the whole piece if you are interested. From Gene’s assessment, it is clear that Bobby Jindal is clear in his choice: he converted to Christianity–his parents are still Hindu–to achieve fast-track prominence. Evidently, he has done well. More importantly, he cares about his American political career, which shows he has his priorities right. Can you say the same thing about Sonia? That she cares only, really, about India? Can we safely ignore the renewed Christian conversion aggression after her party captured power? Or the still-vexed issue of her origins? Her fraudulent educational qualification? Her record of leaving India during the Emergency and the Sikh riots? Her citizenship? The Journalism of Pusillanimity wants us to trust Sonia because the world over, people have elected foreigners. Says, the Congress party pamphlet,

After all a bahu (the avatar that Sonia has adopted in India) may renounce her rights once, but the next time round she will insist on taking what is rightfully hers. [...] The founding fathers of our nation decided that any party that wins a general election is entitled to make one of its leaders the Prime Minister. So, if Sonia can be a citizen of India, become a Member of Parliament, and lead the biggest political party in the country, then Constitutionally speaking there should be no other bigger force to prevent her from making history – for the sake of the world.

Rightfully hers? Try writing something like this in the US: substitute Bobby Jindal for Sonia, and argue that Bobby is entitled to become the US President on these grounds. There are still doubts about Sonia’s citizenship, but that doesn’t bother this author. He has conveniently stated it as a fact.

It is not hard to figure why the Congress party paper has published a Sonia Special. Over the past year or so, Sonia’s fortunes within the party have steadily dwindled. With zero political acumen, Sonia has relied on the infamous coterie which in the garb of giving “direction,” has only messed up her image, the party, and the nation. Cases in point: Goa, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Modi. The coterie in turn, needs the Sonia Glue if its commands are to be obeyed by the lesser mortals in the party. As a result, former heavyweights like Sharad Pawar were forced to accept humiliating coalition terms despite garnering more seats in the recent Maharashtra elections. If this surprise move by Pawar is any indicator of a probable change in the direction of political winds, we’re in for interesting times.

After nearly 23 years, NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray will share the dais when a photo-biography on Thackeray’s life will be released in Mumbai on May 11.

Karunakaran’s breakaway from the dynastic party, the imbroglio in Karnataka, Sheila Dikshit’s vexations, and N.D. Tiwari’s messy state of affairs are a problem too many for poor Renunciate Sonia to handle.

In Uttaranchal, state unit chief Harish Rawat is posing a challenge to Chief Minister N.D. Tiwari. Now, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is being targeted by her party MLAs, with party president Ram Babu Sharma’s name being floated as a potential successor.

It is only logical that she should call her PRO-in-the-press, Shekhar Gupta to do a Sonia Special.

Oh and I forgot. Fresh from the oven, here’s another news item to add to Sonia’s list of woes:

Two days after the Central Bureau of Investigation questioned her in a disproportionate assets case, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Thursday threatened in the Rajya Sabha that her party may withdraw outside support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

Shekhar, O Shekhar, wherefore art thou?