Sonia to board peace bus

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will join Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the inaugural run of the Srinagar-Muzafarabad bus on April 7.

Not only has the Congress party decided to have Sonia flag off the bus along with the Prime Minister, but it has also rescheduled her public rally at Uri. The two Congress leaders will now address a joint rally at Srinagar after the bus has been flagged off.

Sonia's rally had been "shifted" from Uri to Srinagar and not cancelled, emphasised Congress Media Department head Ambika Soni, who is also the party incharge for Jammu and Kashmir. Sonia was originally slated to address a gathering in Uri on March 29, more than a week before the start of the historic peace bus.

The Congress has been claiming that the bus link has received wide approval in the Valley. The Prime Minister while replying to a debate in the Rajya Sabha had said that the bus service addressed the "human" problem of bringing divided families together.

It is this "goodwill" that the Uri and Srinagar rally was supposed to tap. By deciding to have Sonia on board the peace bus, the Congress has sought to spell it out to Pakistan that it is very serious about taking the peace process forward. Sonia's presence was meant to add credence to the government's statements on peace, party sources said.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which had sharply criticised the Congress President for inaugurate the new international airport at Hyderabad, is once again likely to question in what capacity will Sonia inaugurate the bus link.

Though the move might be aimed at furthering Sonia's image in the international community as being part of the decision-making apparatus in India, it is also likely draw further criticism on the two centres of power of the UPA government.