Sonia, Tata, Karnik in Asian star list

BusinessWeek puts trio in the forefront of change in Asia

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, noted industrialist Ratan Tata and infotech specialist Kiran Karnik were among the 25 'Stars of Asia' named by US-based magazine BusinessWeek for being in the "forefront of change".

Describing Sonia as the "power behind the throne", the Asian edition of the magazine in its latest issue listed her as the top star of Asia in the policymakers category for "turning down the top office and setting a new tone for India".

"For much of its 55-years of Independence, India has been mired in political corruption. Now, ordinary Indians hope that Gandhi who has never held high office and has a clean reputation, will tackle corruption and speed up India's development," the weekly said in a special report titled 'Stars of Asia'.

Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons, was given the pride of place in the category of managers for building up the Tata empire as a global player.

"For decades, Tata Sons was the archetypal conservative Indian conglomerate: honest and solid but risk-averse... It's that late-career spurt of dynamism that makes Tata a star "" and could catapult his 136-year-old company into the global big league," the weekly wrote about this scion of the Tata family.

Recognising the lobbying skills backed by strong technological credentials of Karnik that earned him a place among the stars of Asia in the category of opinion shapers, the magazine credited him with handling successfully the controversial outsourcing issue with the US.

Describing Sonia as the architect of the Congress victory, BusinessWeek said "pundits were blown away by the electoral triumph of the Congress party led by Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of Rajiv Gandhi, over the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

"It reminded us all of democracy's power in a society that has become a global outsourcing mecca but still struggles with entrenched poverty."

The magazine said her campaigning persuaded voters to reject the BJP's promises of a 'Shining India' and back Congress' social and rural agenda.

"With the Congress barely six weeks in power, she is already signalling the role she intends to play. She is leaving policy decisions to (Prime Minister Manmohan) Singh and his team of liberal economists, although she will have some say behind the scenes. Gandhi will focus on the politics of managing her resurgent party and a fragile coalition of 18 partners," it said.

Stressing that Congress could not find a leader capable of uniting the party after her husband's death, the weekly said: "She revamped the party, requiring key state ministers to submit performance reviews and insisting that contributions to party coffers be scrupulously accounted for "" a move that improved the Congress' image."

"Gandhi, who has only a high school education, makes no claim to be an intellectual. Her great strength is her commitment to fair play and decency. If she keeps that focus, she will make her mark," the magazine said.