The NREGS and the waiving of farmers' debts were the first steps in this direction at Sonia's initiative in UPA I. Now, the food security bill with the provision of subsidized grains for virtually everyone who asks for them may well be her second venture into an arena where politics cocks a snook at economics.

There is little doubt about Sonia's socialistic instincts. These may be due to the long years she spent in close proximity to Indira Gandhi. Hence, Sonia's praise of bank nationalization in the early months of the depression. It is also known that Sonia nearly scuttled the nuclear deal. In fact, Manmohan Singh had evidently given up on it when he said that the world would not end if the deal was not signed while Sonia expressed her belief that the Left had a point in their opposition to the measure.

It is not known whether Sonia also derived a vague anti-Americanism from her mother-in-law along with the latter's faux socialism. Otherwise, it is difficult to believe that anyone could have a kind word for the communists on the subject when it was known that no one would have been more pleased with the scuttling of the deal than China and Pakistan.

It was clearly Rahul Gandhi's last-minute intervention which saved the deal. At the moment, it is unclear whether the heir apparent shares his mother's preference for populism or whether he believes, like his father, that such measures are a waste of money since only a quarter of the allocations actually reach the needy while the rest is pocked by middle men. A stray comment by Rahul at the time of the loan waivers that such munificence can lead to bankruptcy suggests that he has doubts about such profligacy.

Sonia, however, is seemingly determined at present on replicating Indira's garibi hatao formula although it is by now widely acknowledged that the latter's rhetoric was intended to boost her own position vis-à-vis the “reactionary” Congress old guard. Besides, the fall of the Berlin wall and the disappearance of the Soviet empire were then still two decades away.

It's different now. “Communism is now dead”, as the distinguished Marxist historian, Eric Hobsbawm, has said. “The USSR and most of the states and societies built on its model … have collapsed so completely, leaving behind a landscape of material and moral ruin, that it must now be obvious that failure was built into this enterprise from the start”. In India, the communists are “beleagured and besieged”, as Hobsbawm says Prakash Karat told him.

But the socialists are still dreaming their utopian dreams. They had suffered a temporary setback following the Left's electoral reverses and the clear preference of the growing middle classes for market-oriented policies. Their standard-bearers in the Congress like Arjun Singh and Mani Shankar Aiyar were sulking in a corner after being sidelined.

But, now, with Sonia emerging as the new avatar of Indira Gandhi, they are bound to crawl out of the woodwork to berate the neo-liberal lobby comprising Manmohan Singh, P.Chidambaram and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the last-named having the dubious distinction of being called a “World Bank man” by Jyoti Basu. In fact, it is a description which the socialists will say applies to all three.

The reason, however, why the socialists have gained is obvious. The benefits of the economic reforms have not percolated down to the bottom 300 million. Any improvement in their condition is taking place at too slow a rate for political complacency, especially for a party like the Congress with its broad-tent policies which do not focus on castes or communities or regions.

Yet, since traditionally it has had the backing of the disadvantaged and the minorities, it has an uneasy conscience about the mall-and-multiplex culture fostered by the economic reforms. There is also a subliminal aversion to consumerism in the Indian mind, which also harbours a dislike for businessmen. It is also possible that these elements have played a part in determining policies. There are several factors, therefore, behind the backtracking.

Apart from populism, Sonia apparently also intends to consolidate the Congress's position through the women's bill and reservations for minorities. This renewed reliance on what she believes are surefire recipes - monetary and material largesse and quotas - are expected to restore the Congress's old dominance. That will be her gift to Rahul in 2014. (IPA Service)