It is a system which may not have distinguished it self in enhancing economic development and distributing wealth, but Democracy in India has not disappointed when it comes to regularly dishing out Blockbuster Theater. It has kept the punters of all persuasions engaged, and more often than not provided an enthralling distraction for the man on the street. In fact, here is a new theory to explain the exceptionally long shelf life of democracy in India; its entertainment value. It may not exactly be value for money, never the less, it is a smashing spectacle.

Another glorious chapter to this tradition of high drama was added in the past week. First came the most unpredicted victory in Indian electoral history, that of the Congress led alliance. This was followed by the wonderful morphing of the personal in to the political; Sonia’s denial of the post of the Prime Minister.

Sacrifice has always been regarded as the highest virtue in our society. We like to see our kings, parents, film heroes and heroines, cricketers, TV Bahus and even political leaders, to indulge in this ennobling act. When they do, we have often rewarded them, by adding them to the very special hall of fame, which we look up to, but don’t quite want to emulate. That this celebration of sacrifice has continued even amongst today’s upstart generation of urban India, only confirms this fact.

What is remarkable is how wonderfully things went to plan. The new Mrs. G’s style of politics in the past week had a touch of the old Mrs. G. It is now fairly evident that Sonia had always had her doubts about taking up the position, but these weren’t expressed right after the results were announced. There were two good reasons for this, and the third materialized as predicted.

First, Sonia wanted to make sure that the coalition had been put together, and she had public commitments from her new and old allies, before she broke the news. Second, she didn’t want the party rank and file distracting her in the process of putting the coalition together. Third, she wanted BJP to play their xenophobic card, which they obligingly did.

So when on May 18, when everything was in place, Sonia made her move. She told her party and the rest of the nation, what she and her close confidants in the party had known for some time now; she was not going to be Prime minister.

Since a crisis had been induced, it became impossible for the allies to raise doubts. For if they did, they could end up looking bad, and could worsen the situation. The BJP had landed its foot in the mouth by announcing boycotts and agitations. And here was Sonia’s golden opportunity to catch them with their pants down, with the voter in rural and small town India lapping up the saga of sacrifice. Finally, because this hadn’t exactly been a spontaneous move, the replacement plan with all its theater of trying to convince Sonia by the party workers went in to motion to make things look as authentic as possible.

To call this a brilliant move will be an understatement. In one action, Sonia has taken her image with the ordinary citizen to another level. By freeing her self from the day-to-day governmental responsibilities, she is now in the position to devote her self to the cause of the party. It is a party which may very well be on the cusp of a serious revival in the politically vital state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 members to the parliament, and where the Congress had been all but wiped out in the nineties. Also, in Manmohan Singh, Sonia has a governor of some repute, who importantly is not said to have any political ambitions of his own, and has a squeaky clean image.