Dehradun/New Delhi, November 9
A viral infection forced Congress president Sonia Gandhi today to give a miss to her first public appearance since undergoing surgery for an undisclosed illness. It would have been her first public rally since her return from the United States but she failed to turn up at Gauchar (Chamoli) in Uttarakhand.

Her speech was read out in her absence by Congress Member of Parliament from Tehri Garhwal Vijay Bahuguna. In what was her first public reaction to the anti-corruption movement launched by Anna Hazare, the Congress president slammed Team Anna for raising ‘unnecessary hue and cry’ on the Lokpal issue even after the UPA government had pledged to introduce a strong and effective legislation.

Corruption could not be eradicated by ‘merely making speeches and pointing fingers at others’, she said. There were mixed reactions from Team Anna. While Arvind Kejriwal welcomed the speech in a tweet and hoped the government would honour the commitment, others reacted more sarcastically. Politicians have been busy making speeches, pointed out some of them, and have now been forced to act due to a popular movement.

The speech read out in absentia once again ignited speculation about her health and also whether her absence was a veiled message to Congress’ temperamental ally Mamata Banerjee, whose party holds the Railways portfolio.

Congress spokesmen in New Delhi strove hard to quash all guesswork, including the conjecture that she may soon hand over the reins of the party to son and heir apparent Rahul. Party spokesman Rashid Alvi said: “She is down with viral fever and that is why she couldn’t make it for the rally…please do not draw any other inference. Being the party's star campaigner, Sonia’s gathering was meant to be a show of force in Uttarakhand, a state governed by the main opposition BJP.

In an obvious reference to Team Anna, some of whose members are facing allegations of financial misconduct, the Congress chief said “Everyone needs to look within.... fighting corruption cannot be selective. Anti-corruption campaigners cannot consider corruption by some as a holy affair while condemning corruption by others as a crime.”

“There is a lot of talk about corruption these days. No doubt corruption is prevalent in society in some form of the other. An atmosphere needs to be created against it,” she added.

Expressing concern over rising prices, Sonia agreed that it must be hitting the common man hard and said the government must take steps that provided relief to the common man. But price-rise had to be fought by both the central and the state governments together, she added.