When Sonia Gandhi left the country in a discreet manner to undergo an emergency surgery in a hospital in United State many Congress leaders were taken by surprise on two counts.

First, they’re surprised to know ‘madam’ suffered from an undisclosed ailment. They’re also equally surprised, because, she handed over the party's charge to defense minister A.K. Antony in her absence.

However, for the political observers in Kerala, A.K. Antony’s sudden elevation, temporary though, didn't come as a surprise. For, the State Congress has produced many leaders known for their Gandhi loyalty.

Take the case of late Congress leader K.Karunakaran for instance. Fondly addressed as 'leader' by the party cadre, Karunakaran, was a well entrenched in the Gandhi family.

Perhaps, he may have have fallen out with the Congress president Sonia Gandhi but for a wily tactic he played to anoint P.V.Narasimha Rao as the country's prime minister in 1991.

Congress veterans, who went into a huddle immediately after the assassination of Raji Gandhi, had then felt it was a one-off chance to snatch power. It was thus Karunakaran mooted a plan.

The idea looked deceptively simple; ask the widow to succeed as her husband's body lay in State, fully aware she would decline such a request. She did. And, the rest is history.

It was this episode that paved the way for the rise of Congress leader A.K.Antony as the most trusted aide to the Congress president. Thus started the real political journey of Antony who since didn't have to look back.

In fact, Congress high command has always felt it convenient to seek the counsel of the Southern veterans on various issues.

Reason: None of them could ever rally enough MPs to challenge the throne unlike their UP and MP counterparts.

While Karunakaran along with late G K Moopanar became part of the Indira coterie, there're also a handful of bureaucrats from Kerala who became loyal to Gandhi family.

Indira's trusted bureaucrat, P C Alexander, was her most enduring point man. Indira never had to fear Karunakaran or Alexander. However, when it came to Antony, she'd her own reservations since his faith in her was not blind.

In fact, Antony's was the loudest protest, and perhaps the only one, at the 1976 Guwahati session of the AICC, against the Emergency clamped by Indira Gandhi. The later events saw Antony leaving Congress.

But, Antony's honey-moon with the Brahmananda Reddy Congress didn't last long. He returned to the Congress fold post-emergency and since never dithered in his staunch loyalty to the Congress high command.

Antony, in fact, was also close to the late prime minister P V Narasimha Rao. Again it was Karunakaran who by default facilitated Antony's entry into Rao's inner circle.

Now decades later, Antony is standing in for the Congress president as she convalesces abroad. The grapevine in the national capital is that Antony is destined for higher responsibilities.

When that happens, the squeaky clean Antony would be the only politician from the tiny State of Kerala to reach dizzying heights, without actively pursuing an ambitious agenda.

Yes, be it Karunakaran or Antony, Gandhi family always manages to find a loyalist from Kerala!

FAMOUS FAVOURITES

V. K. Krishna Menon
Legendary dilplomat V.K. Krishna Menon was perhaps the first Malayali who impressed Jawahar Lal Nehru the most. Nehru was insistent on making this far-Left-Winger as his Foreign Minister. Though, some of his colleagues threatened to resign if Menon was made foreign minister, Nehru stuck to his gun.

Mayankote Kelath Narayanan
M.K. Narayanan, currently the Governor of West Bengal, hogged media limelight when he offered to resign from the position of National Security Advisor (NSA) over the Mumbai terrorist attack that killed nearly 200 people. Describing him as ‘Mike’ Narayanan, a WikiLeaks cable said he was a long-time Gandhi family loyalist.

P.C. Alexander
He was closely associated with both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. He served as Mrs. Gandhi’s principal secretary. Later, he came up with a book: My years with Indira Gandhi, which gave new insights into her role in the dismissals of the first Communist government in Kerala and N.T. Rama Rao government in Andhra Pradesh.

K.R. Narayanan
Apart from his all other merits, it was his close relationship with the Gandhi family that saw K.R. Narayanan becoming the country’s first citizen. He entered active politics in 1984 at the request of Indira Gandhi. He was elected to parliament in 1984, 1989 and 1991, and held ministerial posts in the 1984-89 Rajiv Gandhi govt.

K Karunakaran
His closeness to the Gandhi family began from the days of Jawaharlal Nehru and pinnacled during the tenure of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. When he launched a new political outfit following differences of opinion with Congress high command, he christened the new party as Democratic Indira Congress and thus reiterated his trust in her.

A.K. Antony
Though he fell out of Indira Gandhi’s favour and almost went into political wilderness, A.K. Antony emerged as one of the close confidants of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Now, he’s the final word on Congress matters.