FINALLY, P.V. Narasimha Rao has gone out—unsung and unwept. When Additional Sessions Judge Ajit Bharihoke summoned him for framing of charges—he saw a"conscious complicity" on Rao's part to cheat NRI Lakhubhai Pathak some 13 years ago—the Congress chief knew there was no way to avoid the exit door. After all, when he was prime minister in January, over half-a-dozen of his ministers had quit on his insistence after the CBI decided to chargesheet them in the hawala case.
That Rao had been consistently losing support and goodwill within his party was clear after the ignominious Lok Sabha election results. More recently, even loyalists like his reforms mascot, Manmohan Singh, refused to give him a clean chit in the face of the gamut of corruption charges against him. The sessions judge's decision to frame charges came as a final endorsement of the anti-Rao sentiments both within and outside the party. Lakhubhai Pathak's is supposed to be the weakest of all the charges that Rao faces, and more serious ones like the St Kitts forgery and Jharkhand bribery cases are being investigated by the CBI under judicial instruction.
"Prima facie case for offences punishable under section 120(B) read with section 420 of the Indian Penal Code is made out against the accused," Bharihoke ruled, asking for Rao's presence in the court on September 30, along with Chandraswami and his aide Kailash Nath Aggarwal, for framing of charges. Pathak had charged that he gave $100,000 to Chandraswami in 1983, in the knowledge of Rao (then India's external affairs minister), on the promise of certain favours from the government.
As soon as Rao got news of the court's ruling, around 2.30 pm on September 21, he summoned party leaders Pranab Mukherjee and Devendra Dwivedi at his 9-Motilal Nehru Marg residence, and drafted a three-para letter announcing, in clipped officialese, his resignation from the post he had held for the past 64 months. "I am totally innocent and the allegations lev-elled against me are false, frivolous and baseless, and are intended to cause harm to my reputation. During the period I was in positions of power, including that of prime minister, I have not done anything violative of law, nor have I done anything which might bring discredit to my party or to my government," the letter said.
"Rao will continue to be leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party," said AICC General Secretary Dwivedi. Rao knows it is crucial for him to retain that post—Prime Minister Deve Gowda would have to keep consulting him, as the leader of the 141-member supporting party, on every key legislation or decision. Also, in the event of the United Front Government's fall, it's the CPP leader, not the party chief, who will be invited to form a government (by virtue of his being the second largest party).
With Rao's decision to relinquish one post, the dissidents have won the first round but are yet unprepared for the flux created in its wake. The typical reaction from party leaders was cautious, non-committal—"though belated, it's in the highest tradition of the Congress," said P.R. Das Munshi of Rao's decision. Munshi, along with four other party MPs, had forced Rao to summon a CPP meeting recently to discuss ways to rescue the party image, sullied by a spate of corruption charges.
Undoubtedly, Rao's tenure as prime minister (June '91-May '96) saw the record number of scams—at least half-a-dozen of them involved him or his family members and close aides. Simultaneously, under his leadership, the 111-year-old Congress was virtually relegated to the status of a regional outfit. The past five years saw the eclipse of party governments in over nine states. But in the face of an avalanche of criticism, he dug his heels in—ignoring demands that he step down, using all his manipulative skills to keep himself in place.
What does the resignation mean at this juncture? "We will take a collective decision on the course of action and organisa-tional matters," said Ghulam Nabi Azad, an elected member of the CWC who had been campaigning for Rao's exit.
By deciding to tender a formal resignation at the start of the CWC meeting on September 23, Rao has paved the way for the election of a provisional president by that body. He/she will hold office till the election is ratified or someone else is elected at the AICC meet, tentatively scheduled for October. If Rao had chosen to resign prior to the CWC meet, as per the party constitution, seniormost General Secretary Janardhana Poojary would have had to be made the officiating president. Rao's move seems motivated by the fact that now he could facilitate a consensus rather than foisting Poojary on the party.
REBEL CWC members—K. Karunakaran, Rajesh Pilot, Azad, Sharad Pawar and Ahmed Patel—have decided not tomake Rao's succession an issue. Karunaka-ran called on Sonia Gandhi recently to solicit her involvement in rebuilding the party. They want either Sitaram Kesari, the party's seniormost leader, or a clean face like A.K. Antony to succeed Rao—if it is acceptable to the whole CWC. Kesari has expressed willingness to take over if both factions favour his candidature. But Pranab Mukherjee, considered to be a favourite of Rao, opted out—"I am not in the race", he said.
The present CWC still has about 12 Raosupporters; and the dissidents number only half of that. Last month, while he was still hoping to outmanoeuvre the rebels, Rao had appointed loyalist R.K. Dhawan as the party general secretary in charge of organisational elections. Rao then clearly wanted another term. "I am not going to quit. Why should I alone be held guilty for the defeat in the Parliamentary elections?" Rao had thundered at a Youth Congress meeting on September 15, responding to the dissident camp's demand. Even after the sessions judge put a blighter in his dream, Youth Congress chief M.S. Bitta remains among the handful of Rao loyalists. "He is our leader. We don't want him to go," he says. But Bitta doesn't have the clout to make his words stick.
The question before Rao now is whether the dissidents would be content with his resignation from just one post. Will he continue as CPP leader if he goes to jail tomorrow in the Lakhubhai Pathak case, or gets more legal mud on his face in the other cases. The shape of things to come was hinted at by a party MP in the Lok Sabha, who said "we can't work in Parliament with our leader under a cloud of suspicion. He has to be clean and effective".
Rao's exit ensures that the long-pending AICC session will take place in October, and a clear deadline for organisational polls would be set there. "The party also needs a cleanliness drive. After Sukh Ram's expulsion, a showcause notice to Rao in the near future can't be ruled out," a senior CWC member told Outlook , suggesting ways to rebuild the Congress image.
After a series of electoral setbacks, Rao was hopeful that the BSP-Congress alliance would win the elections in Uttar Pradesh, increasing his clout at the Centre. Now, the turn of events can only have a negative impact on the alliance's prospects.
Talking about framing of charges, unlike in BJP chief L.K. Advani's case, the Congress was blase about its leader's loss of face. There was no rally in sympathy, no collective disbelief about his alleged role in the cheating case. Only a sense of cynical acceptance. "I have full faith in the rule of law and I am confident the allegations made against me will be proven false," Rao's letter said. His decision, he wrote, was taken "in the interest of the Congress and to avoid tension and confusion in the ranks"—a view that may not be endorsed by many.
Rao was seen as a baleful influence on his party's fortunes. But his exit will not automatically rejuvenate the Congress. Its political stock remains the same—all party leaders, including the present rebels, were his trusted loyalists once. The path to new life is clear: new programmes, inner party-democracy, regular organisational polls and restoration of the culture of debate. These truisms have never been paid more than lip service in the Congress—and Rao's exit alone by no means ensures a radically new political ethic.
