SITARAM Kesri was overworked and wanted to relax for a couple of hours. But around 5.45 pm on October 4, an All India Congress Committee (AICC) joint secretary called him. The message: Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Prem Kumar had issued non-bailable arrest warrants against P.V. Narasimha Rao in the St Kitts forgery case.
He plunged into damage-control exercises immediatelyafter all, the image of the 111-year-old party, which had already taken quite a battering, was now in deep peril. Kesri was the first to rush to Raos 9 Motilal Nehru Marg residence, sounding almost sorry that his predecessors name had been dragged into one scam after another. "Yes, it has damaged the partys reputation further. I will be telling a lie if I dont admit it," Kesri told the press. In the process, he also sent a message that Rao would now have no choice but to give up his Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) leadership as well.
The handful of Rao loyalists were disappointed and even AICC General Secretary B.P. Mauryas show of solidarity"the court does not decide the relationship between workers and the leaders. Rao continues to be our leader"could not cheer them up. Kesris subtle hint rendered the September 23 Congress Working Committee (CWC) resolutionthat the party stood fully behind Raoalmost invalid. True, the Congress president had not yet launched a tirade against corruption, but he did take a small step to dissociate the party from it officially.
Rao may not have been prepared for such an unfriendly gesture from Kesri so soon. But always the wily survivor, he lobbied for his survival as CPP leader, keeping in mind the worst-case scenariothe court issuing non-bailable warrants against him. Even an hour prior to Prem Kumars order, Rao loyalist Bhuvanesh Chaturvedi met Kesri at his 7-AB Purana Qila residence for half-an-hour to argue his case. He said a mere trial did not merit Raos resignation as CPP leader.
What has baffled the dwindling Rao camp is Kesris refusal to lead the chorus that there is no need for him to step down. "He has resigned as party president. We should not torture him for another resignation. It should be left to him," was all Chaturvedi could elicit from the party boss, who made it quite clear that Rao should go but he could choose the moment.
And nothing could have been more frustrating for Rao than the party cold-shouldering his interests at a time when even Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda seemed willing to go out of the way to protect him. Of course, the support of the 141-member CPP is crucial to the survival of the four-month-old United Front Government and hence Gowdas anxiety to bail Rao out. Several eminent jurists see Gowdas nocturnal meeting with Chief Justice A.M. Ahmadi as something unusual, to say the least. They find it equally strange that Law Minister Ramakant Khalap instructed the CBI director not to oppose Raos bail plea in the Lakhubhai case. "It is calculated to interfere with the process of justice," they feel.
While Gowda faces charges of attempting to influence both the judiciary and the investigating agency, it was obvious that Rao needed support within his party, which, sadly for him, was thinning. A Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh, P. Upendra, who has been a party-hopper for the past four years, is now a staunch Rao supporter. Recently, he organised a meeting of about a dozen Congress MPsknown for their campaign against judicial activismon the plea that Rao was the target of such a trend. But Upendra got a hostile response when P.R. Das Munshi made it clear that his opposition to judicial activism, and its trespassing on legislature territory, should not be construed as a defence of the corrupt and corruption. The motley group was seeking a special session of Parliament to debate judicial activisma proposal that becomes redundant unless a majority of MPs endorse it.
About the same time, at another informal meeting in Gujarat Bhavan, hosted by senior leader Sanat Mehta, several Congress members felt that Rao should give up the CPP post as it would be in tune with Gandhian principlesthat a public figure should not only be clean, but also has to be perceived as clean.
ON October 2, Rajesh Pilot sat on a day-long dharna in Rajghat. His demand: Congress should be cleansed of the corrupt. "If Congress shows the way, and goes that way, others will follow," said Pilot. Two days later, when the CMMs court took cognisance of the chargesheet against Rao in the St Kitts case, Pilot was the first to demand his resignation as CPP leader. During his dharna, Pilot had interesting company for an hour: V.P. Singh, the original complainant against Rao in the St Kitts case, came to empathise with the Congressman.
Within the Congress, Raos exit is likely to herald an organisational shakeup. But Kesri is waiting for Raos resignation and the Uttar Pradesh election results. On October 1, Kesri warned the UF Government that the Congress might review support to the alliance for its failure to make a joint effort to stall the BJP from coming to power in Uttar Pradesh.
"We extended our support to the UF in Delhi to facilitate a secular government replacing the one headed by the BJP. In UP, however, the UF did not reciprocate our gesture, though the Congress and BSP had formed an alliance a month before the elections. We do not appreciate such an absence of reciprocity," Kesri told Outlook. "Congress is one party which never had any alliance with the BJP, and if you want to stop the BJP, you have to support us".
"As far as the question of the partys support to the government is concerned, it is a CWC decision, not an individuals. So even when Kesri replaces Rao, it should not affect the Congress-UF equation," points out a pro-Rao CWC member.
After Raos exit, a revitalised Congress will hope to erase its anti-minorities image, formed in the wake of the Babri demolition. Also, after putting his own house in order, Kesri would like to bring the non-BJP, secular parties together under the Congress umbrellaeven extend a hearty welcome to breakaway groups willing to rejoin.
Kamalapati Tripathi was the last Congress leader to have spoken in terms of the need for a broad alliance of non-Congress parties to check the growth of the BJP way back in 1988. But Rajiv Gandhi, then leading the Congress with an unprecedented 411 members in the Lok Sabha, had turned it down. The emergence of the BJP as the single largest party in the recent general election has only enhanced the possibility of such a broad front. The only question now is whether the Left parties will accept Congress bossism.
But Kesri is in no hurry. His priority lies elsewhere: he wants to revive the Congress sagging image. First, he wants to dispel the belief that the Congress is corrupt: he has taken pains to project an anti-corruption stand visa-vis Rao. Next, he wants to make the organisation democractic; he wants organisational polls to be held by March.
He is also believed to be thinking of packing the AICC and the CWC with young blood. While a weak organisa-tion may have suited Rao, Kesri will have to prove his strength by rebuilding the party.
There seems to be little doubt that Kesri will succeed Rao as CPP leadera position that enables him to stake claim for prime ministership if the UF Government falls. In fact, Gowda-baiter Ramakrishna Hegde sees such a possibility.
Again, Kesri dropped large hints on the issue, with the right conciliatory tone. "I am not a candidate for prime ministership. But I know that the CPI and the CPI(M) are progressive and pro-poor forces. I know the commitment of Left leaders like Jyoti Basu, Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Chaturanan Mishra. Even the Janata Dal seems inclined towards the poor. We will prefer to work with them," says Kesri.
His refusal to be pulled into the race for the CPP post, is, however, only a tactical move. And Rao is onlt too aware of the significance of continuing as CPP leader. For, if the UF Government crumbles, the CPP leader and not the Congress president will be invited to form the government. Kesri is taking on Rao on another frontby putting ideology above personal desire. So, while Raos primary concern is a comeback, Kesri says he is more worried about the partya statement which can only help to margin-alise Rao further.
And that would make things that much difficult for Gowda, who has already been criticised for his brazen pro-Rao stance. Gowda would much rather have a vulnerable Rao than someone like Kesri who is talking of expanding the Congress base. But one thing is certainif ever there is a Gowda-Kesri tussle, it will be the responsibility of the old Congress hand to ensure that the BJP does not walk away with the cake, and upset their secular ambitions.
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