Congress president Sitaram Kesri yesterday stayed away from Sonia Gandhis first public meeting in his home state of Bihar, apparently because the partys star campaigner was unwilling to allow him pride of place beside her.
Congress campaign manager Ghulam Nabi Azad was first reported by a news agency to have said that Kesri missed the Indian Airlines flight to Ranchi. But the news agency later retracted the report. Kesri did not take the regular flight but had chartered a plane, which had to abort journey midway along the Delhi Airport runaway amid talk of a technical snag.
Political circles had been abuzz with talk since Tuesday night that Kesri might skip the meeting to avoid hearing his detractors hurl slogans against him at the meeting. Some journalists who sought to contact Kesri that night were told that his Ranchi programme stood, but that Kesri could not be disturbed as he was resting.
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Before Kesri cancelled his flight, Azad said he had tried to arrange a special plane to ferry him to Ranchi but it was found that the alternative plane would take at least three hours, by which time it would be too late. Azad said Sonia and Kesri will address joint rallies later.
However, one of the organisers of the Ranchi meeting said Sonia was unwilling to share the dais with Kesri, especially after his uncalled for statement that the Congress was not projecting Sonia Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate. Ironically, Sonia herself has been repeatedly saying that she had no lust for office.
Sonia is, apparently, averse to sharing a dais with the party president, even in his home state, partly because protocol would dictate that he speak last. She is said to have let it be known in party circles that Kesri could address the gathering and leave the podium before she arrived.
The Ranchi rally was important for the Congress in view of its alliance with former Laloo Prasad Yadavs Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Yadav has said he would decide on the number of seats to be left for the Congress after judging the public response to Sonias Ranchi rally.
While Sonia wants the Congress to contest a large chunk of Bihar seats for she believes that the party is heading for majority by itself Kesris expectations border on a more modest target. Sonia would much rather like the party to contest all the Bihar seats than agree to contest with the RJD, as its junior partner.
Kesri has already indicated this in a television interview telecast on Tuesday. He said the Congress would join a coalition government (that is, this time around it would not offer outside support) if it failed to get a majority.
Kesris interview had generated a lot of media interest for the Ranchi meeting, with a large number of journalists flocking to the town to compare the crowds response to the two top Congress personalities.