Gandhi returns home after US medical trip

Sonia Gandhi, leader of India’s ruling Congress party, returned home yesterday after more than a month of medical treatment in the United States which had left the government rudderless to deal with the biggest protests in decades.

The absence of the powerful 64-year-old, who runs the country from behind the scenes, has caused serious problems for the coalition government, accused of mishandling the anti-corruption protests led by Anna Hazare and facing challenges from the opposition that have frequently halted parliament proceedings.

Ms Gandhi was believed to have arrived home with her daughter away from the media glare. No images have been published of her since she left for the US five weeks ago for surgery for an undisclosed illness.

Congress party officials hope her return will lift morale in the centre-left party, but analysts point out that her absence did not affect day-to-day running of India.

“Sonia was never running it on daily basis. She has a set of advisers running the party, they are all there. If Sonia was around during the Anna Hazare issue I don’t think it would have been handled differently,” said Sanjaya Baru, editor of the newspaper Business Standard.

The protests led by Mr Hazare, 74, forced prime minister Manmohan Singh to agree to tougher anti-corruption legislation.