New Delhi Note Book

VINOD DHAWAN

INDIA POST SOUTH ASIA BUREAU

Sonia Wants to Keep BJP Out of Power

NEW DELHI: An aide of newly-enrolled Congress-member Sonia Gandhi says she has joined active politics to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party out of power. Denying that her decision amounted to rearguard action, he said : "It is not even because of Bofors. It is for the other B, the BJP. The Bharatiya Janata Party appeared to be gaining ground. The Congress did not seem to be in a position to contain it. This was the last chance. She had to step in. Her name will work," he claimed.

According to circles close to her, the urgency has arisen because she privately manages a number of public trusts in the name of her family members. If the BJP comes to power, she fears these could be taken over by the Government.

M Venkaiah Naidu, General Secretary of the BJP, does not think that Sonia Gandhi posed any threat as "she would not be able to convert the crowd into votes."

Her joining the Congress may benefit the party only marginally, he said.

The President of BJP’s Uttar Pradesh unit, Rajnath Singh, says that Sonia Gandhi’s entry into active politics would lead to "irreparable loss" to the nation’s polity. Denying the Congress claim that BJP was unnerved by Sonia’s entry into politics, he asserted that "in fact, her entry into active politics will merely result in an increase in the popularity of the BJP."

Singh added that the nations’ identity and self-respect would be at stake if the reins of power pass to the Congress in general and Mrs Sonia Gandhi in particular. "The country is not in a position to tolerate such gimmicks."

Speaking to newsmen in Lucknow, Samata Party President George Fernandes opposed Sonia Gandhi’s entry into Congress politics and asked, "Does a party that helped India get it’s independence need an Italian widow to revive itself?"

Rallies Lined Up for Sonia

Sonia Gandhi will address 60 rallies in the country by October, with the first one scheduled at Sriperumbudur, May 21, Rajiv Gandhi’s death anniversary.

She plans to baptize herself in public life at the site of her husband’s assassination on the sixth anniversary of the tragic event.

Her decision is a possible move to test political waters.

Significantly, Congress President Sitaram Kesri is being kept out of the program. Most of her rallies will not be organized under the Congress banner but will seek to involve local party leaders. Her presence will be a signal for unity, sources said. She would not contest organizational elections, but instead prefer to arbitrate over factional party feuds. "Mrs Gandhi may like to choose for herself the role of rebuilding the party by holding mass rallies without opting to hold a position of power in the party," said a Congress Working Committee member.

Sonia’s choice of venue to make her first public contact is claimed by her aides to have vastly enthused party circles. It appears to be a calculated move to make impact in the South, particularly Tamil Nadu. Following the assassination, many people in the State developed a deep emotional bond with the Gandhi family.

In the party President’s election scheduled for June 9, she is unlikely to extendsupport to any one candidate, yet Rajiv Gandhi’s widow is expected to play a decisive role in the process. "The first goal that the occupant of 10 Janpath has chosen to achieve is bringing about unity and cohesiveness in the functioning of the party organization. And for that, going by the tradition of the party, she would like to evolve a consensus for the party President’s post," said a General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC).

Kesri Sets Sights on Country’s Presidency

Congress President Sitaram Kesri was hoping to gain full control of the party after the organizational polls. However, the entry of Sonia Gandhi has put his plans out of gear. In the assessment of one CWC member, "Mrs Gandhi may succeed in evolving a consensus on his name. But Mr Kesri’s problem is that even after winning the election without any opposition, he will not be able to wield power which will rest with her.

And whenever she decides to step in to take over the leadership, he will have to step aside because he has no support base."

The clever Kesri has therefore decided to set his eyes on the country’s presidentship. A concerted move to mar the presidential prospects of Vice President KR Narayanan seems to have his blessings. Two events following in quick succession point to this. Firstly, Kesri loyalists in the Parliamentary Forum of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes forced a resolution which could dent Narayanan’s chances. Secondly, the Parliamentary Forum of Other Backward Class MPs demanded that the next President be an OBC.

A memorandum by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Gangacharan Rajput, who is an OBC of the Lodh Rajput community, addressed to Prime Minister IK Gujral and endorsed by 14 other MPs from various parties, suggests that the next President be an OBC.

Kesri is an OBC of the Bania community--a community included in the OBC list in Bihar.

This memorandum coincides with senior Congress functionary H Hanumanthappa quitting as Secretary General of the SC/ST Forum, accusing its leadership of scuttling the prospects of an SC/ST candidate from becoming the President. He said by inserting the rider in the resolution that it would back a "freedom fighter" or a "political sufferer," Vice President Narayanan’s chances of becoming President, which some thought bright, have been damaged.

Sources in the Forum said the rider was added at the insistence of former Union Minister G Venkataswamy, who is the President of the Forum, and Ajit Jogi--both Kesri loyalists--in the face of opposition from several members, including Hanumanthappa.

CM Ibrahim Losing His Clout

The former Premier, HD Deve Gowda’s Man Friday, Civil Aviation Minister CM Ibrahim is rapidly losing clout with the new dispensation coming in.

Soon after losing his high profile Information and Broadcasting Ministry to veteran Jaipal Reddy, Ibrahim lost as the President of Karnataka Janata Dal also to young JD MP from Karnataka, BL Shankar. According to the grapevine, the decision to replace him with Reddy as I&B Minister was taken by Prime Minister Gujral after one particular call made by Civil Aviation Secretary Yogesh Chandra to Doordarshan Director General.

The call, made at the behest of Ibrahim, instructed the DG to carry the announcement of CBI Director Joginder Singh in the 8.30 pm bulletin that the CBI intended to chargesheet Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam. The ‘final nail’ of the Gowda-Ibrahim game plan however, cost the Minister his portfolio.

Ex-Minister Travels By Bus

Devendra Prasad Yadav, former Food and Civil Supplies Minister who fell a victim to Laloo Prasad Yadav’s ire, can be seen waiting for the Parliament House bus to drop him home almost everyday. Despite being a third time MP and a Cabinet Minister for last ten months, he does not own a car. Before becoming a Minister, he used the Parliament House bus service and now is back to square one. He has made a special request to the Minister of State for Finance for an enhanced car advance.

At the moment, the MPs get only Rs 50,000 to buy a car and that is obviously not enough even to buy a decent second-hand car. The only other former Minister who travels by Parliament House bus is Nitish Kumar. But Nitishbabu was merely a Minister of State and that too in his first term as an MP.

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