A section of the United Front is unhappy over the controversy arising from the CBI questioning Congress president Sitaram Kesari on Sunday. It is felt that since the Congress is supporting the H D Deve Gowda government, there was no need to needle Kesari.
A senior Front leader said there was no need to single out any one leader when it was known to all that in politics it was difficult to find anybody untouched by corruption. He said even if the Congress withdrew support on this issue and mid-term elections are held, the composition of the Lok Sabha would remain as it is now.
There was a palpable sense of disappointment within the Front yesterday. In any case, Front sources pointed out that the government has been surviving under constant threat since it took over in June 1996. They said there has never been a period devoid of uncertainty.
The Front could surely do without the controversy over Kesaris questioning, particularly at a time when he had taken over as leader of the Congress parliamentary party, a senior leader said. He, however, did not rule out the possibility of CBI chief Joginder Singh acting at the behest of Kesari, and moving in a manner that gives the Congress a reason to withdraw support.
Such a perspective was reinforced by a government statement yesterday.
An official spokesman said neither the Prime Minister nor his office gave any direction to the CBI to question Kesari. He said: Neither the PM nor anybody else in the PMO has given any direction to the CBI to question the Congress president. The Prime Minister or the official in the PMO were not not even aware of the CBIs move to question Kesari, he added.
A senior cabinet minister remarked that he had reasons to believe that Joginder Singh did not consult Gowda before sending a CBI team to question Kesari. What was a normal questioning by the CBI following a court directive had been blown out of proportion and turned into a needless controversy, he said.
A section of the United Front feels that Joginder Singh had been used by Kesari and consequently, the issue had become an issue in the media, mainly because the person interrogated was the Congress president.
Senior Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav, meanwhile, has suggested summoning a special session of Parliament to discuss corruption in politics.
