Pawar likely to join party poll fray next week
Rajesh Pilots candidature for the post of Congress president was announced yesterday, in his absence, by four other party leaders. A senior party leader indicated that the partys Lok Sabha floor leader, Sharad Pawar, might announce his candidature early next week.
Despite the challenge, plus the host of complaints of rigging in the organisational elections across the country, incumbent Sitaram Kesri seemed unfazed. Indeed, if all the complaints were true, he was all the more likely to get through with the support of an electoral college carefully packed with loyalists.
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Kesris managers nonetheless tried to fight the fires of revolt in various state units, talking to and negotiating with irate party leaders from UP, Andhra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and elsewhere.
Pilot has been waiting to see if any of the other potential candidates throws his hat in the ring. He appears to have got the impression that Sharad Pawar, AR Antulay and Jagannath Mishra were unlikely to contest. However, Pawar is still not out of the race.
Contacted yesterday, Pawar said the list of party delegates has not yet been announced, not even ten per cent. He added that a candidates eligibility to contest could only follow the announcement of the list of delegates. He refused to comment on the allegations of rigging of the organisational elections.
A number of party leaders have complained that CWC members and some PCC presidents had been given a free hand to manipulate the election of PCC and AICC delegates from their states. Other group leaders from these states argued vociferously against this strategy.
Andhra leader V Hanumantha Rao undertook a hunger strike in front of the AICC headquarters. K Rosaiah, who resigned recently as APCC president, sat with him in solidarity for a while in the afternoon. Rosaiah had resigned the PCC post following differences with CWC member K Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy over the nomination of party candidates for byelections.
Even Kesri backers like G Venkat Swamy joined Hanumantha Rao for a while. Most of the complainants made it clear that they were ranged against their respective state satraps, such as Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy, rather than against Kesri.
In states where Kesris managers planned to use the elections to replace the current office-bearers, the dissenting voices were those of important party functionaries. Reports from Bhopal said Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh had said the election commission should supervise the party polls.
Party leaders say the Digvijay Singh-VC Shukla combine was set to lose control of the PCC and that PCC president Parasram Bharadwaj, a Shukla supporter, had already handed his resignation to the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister had seen the writing on the wall after Kesris managers appointed supporters of Arjun Singh, Madhavrao Scindia and Ajit Jogi, all of whom are ranged against Digvijay Singh, as district returning officers in more than half the districts in the state, they said.
The host of party leaders from various states who have been sidelined in the election process will surely try and combine their strength in the AICC to try and unseat Kesri. However, their allegations point to the incumbents advantage.
He would gain further if more than one candidate enters the fray. Pilot had waited until the last moment, evidently to assess whether any others would contest.
If Pawar also contests, the anti-Kesri votes could be divided, since the Rao camp, albeit limited, is with Pilot.
While Pilot went on a pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi, his candidature was announced in the capital by YS Rajashekhara Reddy, KP Singh Deo, SS Ahluwalia, all MPs, and J&K PCC chief Ghulam Rasool Kar. He had not filed his nomination until evening and could still change his mind, specially since he has not announced his candidature himself.
Kesris managers insisted that there would be a consensus. They extended the last date for filing nominations from May 25 to 28. The last date for withdrawal would also be pushed back.