Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi has decided to make great sacrifices in order to demonstrate her self-proclaimed unparalleled devotion towards the farmers of the country. The interim party president has announced that she will not be celebrating her birthday on the 9th of December in light of the ongoing protests against the newly passed farm bills and the Coronavirus pandemic.
Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi (in file pic) will not celebrate her birthday on December 9, in view of the ongoing farmer’s agitation against agriculture bills & #COVID19 situation across the country. pic.twitter.com/ivURWapgam
— ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2020
With this announcement, Sonia Gandhi has demonstrated why her tenure as interim president could very well last longer than the presidential tenure of Rahul Gandhi. She, at the very least, has functional intellectual faculties that help her to at least pretend that she cares for people; quite unlike Rahul Gandhi who was busy partying immediately after the Mumbai Terror Attacks in 2008.
“Farmers are on the street-facing the harsh climate and brutal crackdown from the Government, Congress leaders instead of celebrations should strengthen the efforts to provide relief to all those who are suffering and extend support to fighting Anndatas,” she is reported to have told Congress functionaries. Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal has also instructed state heads of the party to refrain from all celebrations including cake-cutting.
Her health does not appear to be conducive for a birthday celebration either. Sonia Gandhi was advised by doctors to move out of Delhi as the poor air quality and pollution had aggravated her chest infection. She is currently recuperating in Goa and Rahul Gandhi is accompanying her. Sonia Gandhi turns 74 on the 9th of December, 2020.
This is the second consecutive year that Sonia Gandhi will not be celebrating her birthday. In 2019, she did not celebrate her birthday citing the rising instances of rapes in the country. It appears very likely at this point that she is not fond of celebrating her birthdays anymore, which is very natural as birthday festivities appear extremely pointless to everyone after a certain age. Inventing such convenient excuses for not celebrating birthdays also provides politicians the means to score political points.
It could also very well be that the birthday gift that the Telangana Congress presented to her was shocking enough to dissuade her from celebrating her birthday ever again. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Uttam Kumar Reddy said that a victory in the state assembly elections will be their gift to the UPA chairperson.
When results emerged 2 days after her birthday, the TRS won 88 seats in the 119 seat assembly while the Congress managed only 19. Such gifts are awful enough to dissuade anyone from celebrating their birthdays.
