The wind that became a tornado A protest, many hues

By Pramod Kumar

Countrywide protests have finally forced Smt. Sonia Gandhi to make a hasty retreat from the race to the Prime Minister'spost. The way she managed the whole show and rallied the non-NDA partners in favour of her candidature shocked the countrymen and lakhs of people listening to their ?inner voice? came out on the streets all over the country to express their anguish through different means. Here is a brief account.

Hearing the news of Sonia Gandhi becoming the next Prime Minister, the country'sstock market registered historic crash of 500 plus the highest ever. A young businessman, Mahesh Prabhu committed suicide in Bangalore. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Uma Bharati sent in her resignation to the party president in protest.

The BJP leader Smt. Sushma Swaraj and her husband declared not to enter the Parliament House if a foreign-born person was made Prime Minister of the country. Janata Party president, Subramanian Swamy met the President and urged him not to invite any foreign-born person to form a government.

The NDA declared a total boycott of the proposed swearing-in ceremony of Sonia Gandhi. By and large, different people, social organisations, religious seers, political parties, leaders of different hues expressed their opposition through various means.

The former BJP general secretary and Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM) leader, K.N. Govindacharya stole the show by staging a march to the President House on May 18. He formed the Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan on May 15.

Calling it a cultural suicide, he met the President and urged him to ?think what he can do about it?. He announced that the day of Sonia'sswearing in would be observed as black day.

In Delhi, former Union Minister, Dr Sahib Singh Verma sat on dharna at Rajghat under the banner of Gramin Swabhiman to protest against the candidature of Sonia Gandhi. R.K. Bharadwaj, president, Krantikari Manuvadi Morcha also protested against Sonia Gandhi becoming the Prime Minister.

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the country'slargest student organisation protested at the Jantar Mantar. Former Union Minister, George Fernandes also participated in the protest. Addressing the protestors, ABVP leader, Rajkumar Bhatia declared that students would oppose any foreign-born person of becoming Prime Minister.

The Kovaipudor Brahmin Seva Samaj, Coimbatore, urged the Kanchi Shankracharya to issue a press statement conveying the opposition of Hindus to Sonia Gandhi becoming the Prime Minister, as ?her only qualification is the six-letter word, GANDHI?.

The Image India Foundation, a nationalist, non-partisan, think-tank organised a peaceful rally against the candidature of Smt. Sonia Gandhi. More than two thousand people, including doctors, lawyers, engineers, former armed service officers and other professionals participated in the rally. The nation should rise as one man and continue to oppose a foreigner'saccession to power in India, they said.