  Hmmm, while the jury might be still out on weather Sonia's should be compared to Gandhi or to Mother Teresa, the naked truth is that she is the power behind the throne. Like her faithful servant Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyer said before the swearing in of the Prime Minister that although she has "chosen" a "Regent" to rule, she is still the "Queen".
It remains to be seen if she will allow Dr. Singh to be his own man. Taking into consideration the history of the Congress party and the current state of affairs, I am hazarding a guess. This is going to be one hell of a mess. Already, foreign diplomats are visiting her and she is being briefed by all key civil servants and ministers. If we look at the history of the Congress, never have anyone outside the Nehru dynasty been effective leaders of the party for a long time.
So, the whole "sacrifice" seems like a tactical move, albeit a very smart one to kill many birds with a single stone. I wonder if this concept of having a De Facto Prime Minister and using a De Jure Prime Minister as her proxy can be termed as subversion of democracy. Let's just hope that better sense will prevail and she will do what she is good at - cracking the whip at slavish congressmen and leave the Prime Minister to do his job.
Meanwhile, the NDA finally seems to be recovering from shock and awe. But don't start writing their obituary as yet. With the shrewd Advani in charge, these guys are going to bounce back sooner rather than later. With the inherent instability in the current government, the prospect of a mid term poll is not so far fetched. Let me try to explain why this government is inherently unstable. First of all, there could be two centers of power: Dr. Manmohan Singh (If he has the spine to stand up to Sonia) and Sonia herself.
Secondly, the coalition itself is riddled with contradictions. The left parties succumbed to the mother of all temptations - doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. They supported the Congress government - not to help form a stable government, but to keep the NDA out of power. Although the congress at the moment seems to be managing the alliance rather well, the fact remains that they are competing for power in Kerala, Bengal and elsewhere.
So, in case of an election, there will actually be no seat adjustment. Thirdly, the DMK and other Tamil parties will try to use the Central government to settle political scores with AIADMK. The question is how much compromise the Congress is willing to make to keep its partners happy. Let us wait and see how long this charade can continue. I am afraid this means instability in the near to distant future. 
