The Congress is dragging its feet on the formation of the coordination committee with the United Front. It is not keen on such a mechanism, but has been forced into it by President S D Sharma when I K Gujral was invited to form the government.
Party spokesman V N Gadgil yesterday denied reports that the list of names from the Congress side did not include senior leader Sharad Pawar. He said the list itself had not been finalised, so there was no question of anybody being dropped.
The Congress and the United Front are to have seven members each in the committee. The Congress has not yet decided the names; neither has the United Front. Both sides have been embroiled in party matters in the recent past, but Congress sources said if they could help it, the committee will not materialise.
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The reason behind the Congress taciturnity is that as the supporting party, it does not want to be seen to be responsible for any omission or commission of the United Front government. The party does not want to be bound by any mechanism to any decision of the government.
The desire to enjoy power without responsibility is likely to be reflected in the partys plenary session in Calcutta from August 8. Party sources said the political resolution would be strongly critical of the United Front government, mainly on the failure to implement the provisions of the common minimum programme.
Representatives from each state have been asked to submit a report on the political situation in their respective states. The session is expected to call upon party members to actively oppose the ruling parties in their respective states. This will bring them in direct confrontation with parties whom the Congress is supporting at the Centre.
This implies that political equations will change drastically in August. In fact, anything may happen during the monsoon session of parliament, particularly if the Janata Dal splits, and the party strength is depleted, a senior Congress leader said.
Congress president Sitaram Kesri is scheduled to meet chiefs of state units today, and discuss the logistics of the plenary session. The state leaders will give a preliminary report on the political situation in their respective states, and their input would be included in the political resolution. The clearer picture of the resolutions political, international, economic, on 50 years of independence, and the Quit India movement would be placed before the drafting committee chaired by senior Pranab Mukherjee on July 12.