Firm opposition by Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot prevented the Congress Working Committee from authorising party chief Sitaram Kesari at Sunday evenings meeting to withdraw support from the United Front government whenever he wanted.
Most other members, primarily K Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy and K Karunakaran, backed a stronger resolution than the one that was passed, according to CWC members who asked not to be identified. Members cited CBI and other investigations against Congress leaders, pointing out that no BJP leader had been subjected to any probe.
Pawar and Pilot insisted that the CWC was the ultimate authority in the party and should meet whenever the decision to withdraw support was to be taken. There have been indications in recent weeks that Pawar has moved subtly closer to the Narasimha Rao-Pilot-Jagannath Mishra axis.
The Gowda government could not survive without the support of the Congress 142 Lok Sabha members.
Some of Kesaris backers quoted the party constitution to argue that the president could exercise the authority of the CWC, but Pilot retorted that that was in extraordinary circumstances. There would be no point having a CWC if all decisions were to be taken by the party president alone.
The Kesari camp is nonetheless determined to increase the pressure on the United Front. The party is likely to despatch letters to each UF constituent, along with the CWC resolution, in the next day or two, a senior leader revealed yesterday.
Some of Kesaris opponents said he seemed to be trying to cause a rift in the UF, by targetting Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and suggesting that the front choose an alternative leader. Others said he seemed to be looking for an opportunity to bring down the government during the budget session.
Pawar seems to be in no mood to allow this. He has argued to his associates that the partys leaders need to look to the interests of the country, the economy and the impact on the international community and not just to the party, leave alone the ambitions of individuals.
Pilot has argued that the Congress should first identify specific actions, specially on the economic front, that the government should take. If the government refuses over a period of time, the Congress could legitimately withdraw its support, citing the UFs failure to follow its advice.
Pilot was attacked by AICC general secretary RK Dhawan. At the beginning of the meeting, he objected to a statement by Priya Ranjan Das Munshi that no one tainted by a corruption charge should hold party office, and asked whether he was tainted.
After Kesari ruled that no one was to be considered guilty until convicted in court, Pilot said he disagreed and supported Das Munshi.
Dhawan told Pilot that he remembered when Pilot used to come to him on a scooter. Pilot replied that he was not ashamed that he not only rode a scooter as an air force officer but also delivered milk to the houses where he now stayed, when he was a teenager.
Dhawan cited his dedicated work for Indira Gandhi (he was the former Prime Ministers private secretary) and said many of his family went to jail for her sake. Yet, those who had called her a cancer in the party (Das Munshi had, when he had left the party soon after the Emergency) had the audacity to make such statements.
Pilot turned to Kesari and asked whether he would conduct the meeting or allow him to leave. Kesari then asked Dhawan to stop.
