Sushma Swaraj vs Sonia Gandhi: A 16-Year-Old Rivalry

Sushma Swaraj and Sonia Gandhi share a rivalry that goes back over a decade.

Sonia Gandhi (L) and Sushma Swaraj have a rivalry that goes back decades. (Photos: Reuters)

The monsoon session of Parliament was certainly unproductive, but it has been quite eventful. The demand for the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, became louder and shriller, with Congress leaders including Rahul and Sonia Gandhi bringing up her family’s connection to Lalit Modi.

Not to be undone, Sushma attacked the Gandhi parivaar ,bringing up issues from the past including the ‘lenient’ treatment of Ottavio Quattrocchi, an Italian businessman connected to the Bofor’s scandal and Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson.

Even further drama followed, with the President of India’s oldest political party rushing to the well of the Lok Sabha.

An angry Sonia Gandhi in the well of the Lok Sabha. 

This latest episode, while intense, comes at the culmination of a 16-year-old rivalry between Sonia Gandhi and Sushma Swaraj.

Sushma Swaraj, the BJP’s Answer to a Gandhi

In 1999, just months after she became the President of the Congress party, Sonia Gandhi was contesting her first Lok Sabha elections. She was given two of the Party’s safest seats: Amethi, her husband’s constituency, and Bellary, a Congress party stronghold in Karnataka.

A Congress Party supporter pastes posters of Sonia Gandhi, in Bellary before the 1999 general elections. (Photo: Reuters)

The BJP brought out the big guns in response. Sushma Swaraj, who was then the first woman chief minister of Delhi took on Sonia in Karnataka. Swaraj learnt functional Kannada in under a month, drew large crowds and gave Sonia a run for her money.

Sushma Swaraj (R) waves to supporters during an election rally in Bellary in 1999. (Photo: Reuters)

She also brought up the ‘foreign origin’ issue. However, Sonia retained Bellary for her party.

Sushma though, proved her mettle as a campaigner, orator and tough fighter.

The Shaved Head Threat

Cut to 2004. Sushma had been one of the leading members of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cabinet. She had served as the Minister for Telecommunications, Information and Broadcasting and Health over the six-year tenure of the NDA government,

But the Congress led UPA, along with the Left, was all set to form the government after the general election. And now, Sushma’s rival Sonia Gandhi was about to become Prime Minister.

Not to take this lying down, Sushma brought up the ‘foreign origin’ issue with renewed vigour.

Sushma Swaraj threatened to shave her head if Sonia Gandhi became PM in 2004 (Photo: Reuters)

After the BJP’s loss in the general elections, Sushma Swaraj said that if Sonia Gandhi were selected prime minister she would wear white saris, shave her head, not wear any ornaments, eat only black gram and sleep on the floor so long as Sonia Gandhi remained prime minister.

The statement came under sharp attack from the Congress and women’s groups.

Sonia, however, chose not be PM appointing Manmohan Singh instead. Relations between the Sushma and Sonia though remained frosty for some time to come.

For a Brief Time, Relations Thaw

In 2009, Sushma Swaraj replaced LK Advani as the Leader of Opposition in Parliament during the UPA’s second tenure in the government. During this period, relations between Sonia and Sushma were cordial, and the pair even collaborated on the Women’s Reservation Bill.

When the 15th Lok Sabha finally ended, Sushma even praised Sonia on the floor of the house and called her a “graceful leader”.

Given the recent acrimony and personal attacks from both sides, it’s unlikely that either Sonia Gandhi or Sushma Swaraj will echo the sentiments from 2013 any time soon.