Sonia-baiters yet to reveal agenda

It was a rather strange tea party, which former defence minister George Fernandes hosted at his residence yesterday. The participants formed what they termed as the Rashtriya Swabhiman Manch. But they were cagey about the aim or purpose behind it.

All the participants, except one, are known Sonia Gandhi baiters. But none of them wanted to mention her name or identify her as the target of the Manch. Apart from Fernandes, the somersault artiste Subramaniam Swamy was there. His latest obsession is to catch Sonia in an alleged antique smuggling case. Then there was Jaya Jaitley, whose antipathy for Sonia has been well documented. There was Digvijay Singh, a 'chela' of Fernandes and former minister in the NDA government.

The surprise visitor was former PM Chandrashekhar who often tends to overlook political differences when it comes to personal friendships. How and why he was present, no one was sure as he refused to speak to the media. No one has heard him expressing his views against Sonia.

Two prominent invitees who did not turn up, for personal reasons, but did send their solidarity note, were the 'tiranga' star Uma Bharti and former speaker P.A. Sangma. No one has any doubts about what they think of Sonia.

Fernandes throughout the press conference kept ducking about the real intention or agenda behind the Manch. All that he would say was that the people who gathered yesterday were all those who felt that the prestige and security of the country was under threat and there was a general deterioration.

Is it Sonia who is the target of your Manch? "Does she deserve it", was the counter-question. However, he promised that the Manch, which will hold a public meeting in Delhi on November 4, would unveil its agenda. But there were broad hints that Sonia was the target. Swamy gave it away when he referred to how the post of the prime minister was being 'devalued' now.

On another occasion when asked if this Manch was targeted at an individual (read Sonia), he could not control himself and blurted, "if we talk of selling country's antiques abroad it is not an agenda against an individual." The formation of the Manch, comes in the wake of reports in certain sections of the media, of a desperate attempt to forge a third front.