Panday: Manning must learn from Sonia

FORMER prime minister Basdeo Panday yesterday hailed the victory of Sonia Gandhi’s Congress Party in Thursday’s general elections in India and said there was a lesson in that victory for Prime Minister Patrick Manning and the ruling PNM. The 57-year-old widow of assassinated former Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi, became the fourth member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty to lead India after Congress and its allies surprised the BJP-led coalition in Thursday’s polls and appear set to take 218 of the 545-seat Indian Parliament. The BJP and its allies could only muster 186 seats while leftist parties have promised to join with Congress in forming the new government. Sonia and her son Rahul won their seats by large margins.

Panday told Newsday that he met Gandhi when he visited India as prime minister. He described Gandhi as “very charming, well educated” and believed that she was more than ready to accept the mantle of leading the world’s largest democracy.  The UNC leader admitted that while he was “very surprised” to learn that Congress defeated the BJP, he was pleased nonetheless. Panday believed that the key to Congress’ victory was the fact that even though the BJP ensured that India’s economy was healthy, they “failed to deal with the people on the ground.” Panday said Manning and the PNM Government would be well advised to take note of this fact.