Sujay Gupta
The Telegraph
August 26, 1999
Title: Local Bahu fights outsider Bahu Author: Sujay Gupta Publication: The Telegraph Date: August 26, 1999 Amethi, Aug. 25 The racquets have been flung to a corner of a room inside Amethi's palace. Her hands, from the wrists to the elbows, are covered with jangling bangles and her forehead is streaked liberally with vermilion. Ameeta Modi Singh, former national badminton champion, is the real bahu (daughter-in-law) of Amethi. She is advertising the status to undermine Sonia Gandhi's claim to the title. Campaigning hard for husband Sanjay Singh, sitting MP and BJP candidate against Sonia in the constituency, Ameeta predicts doom for the Congress chief. "Sonia", promises Ameeta, "is contesting from here for the first and last time." Ameeta holds court in an outer room of the Amethi palace where her husband is also meeting with voters, election agents, party workers and the press just before the start of the day's punishing campaign programme. Ameeta waxes eloquent on what Sanjay has done, not only as an MP, but also during his years as friend to Rajiv and Sanjay Gandhi. Sanjay Singh, scion of the Amethi royal family, is Ameeta's second husband - her first was the slain national badminton champion, Syed Modi - and she is his campaign manager-cum-PR adviser. Sanjay admits it is Ameeta who fills in the gaps in any conversation. For her part, Ameeta never allows the conversation to flag. "From 1981 to 1988, Amethi was the Gandhi family's constituency because of my husband. When he left the Congress because it had no internal democracy, Rajiv Gandhi lost control of the constituency. The constituency was taken over by 'coordinators'. The people of Amethi hated the Congress coordinators who were outsiders. They wanted a local MP who they could touch and feel," she says. "We welcome Sonia Gandhi to Amethi. We have always welcomed guests here. But only to come and go and never rule us. She will realise that her belief that she is the bahu of Amethi is a big myth. The bubble will burst," Ameeta insists. The couple has worked long and hard on their constituents and hope their efforts will see Sanjay through despite the Gandhi charisma that had turned Amethi into a pocket borough of the Congress dynasty. She looks after the "social side" of the constituency, Ameeta says. For starters, she restored the Amethi palace which was in bad shape "because the riyasat (kingdom) belongs to the people". She plays guardian of the palace and tries to sustain the aura about it. Meat and liquor are not allowed through its portals. "The rule does not apply to valued guests though", she says switching to another role as perfect hostess. The royal couple also counts as one of their successes the system of mass marriages that they have encouraged and even sponsored. "We not just organise and attend the marriages but also monitor the progress of each and every couple and also extend our association by attending the birth of their first child and securing school admissions." As benevolent royals to their subjects, the couple has also run community workshops, medical and family planning camps. "Sonia Gandhi does not have any of these qualities. If she had expected the people to sustain the emotional bond with her family she should have done better than visit Amethi just twice in the past nine years," Ameeta says. It is close to mid-morning and time to go campaigning. "We do it all the time. Not only when it is election time," she says.
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