MUMBAI, February 6: Sonia Gandhi should have stemmed the haemorrhage in the Congress towards the Bharatiya Janata Party. So if Congressmen still seem to be playing musical chairs, as is apparent with the exit of three from Maharashtra in the last three days, Congress leaders should be worried.The three Congressmen from the state who have joined the BJP are Pratapsinh Mohite Patil from Solapur, Anoopchand Shah from Mumbai North and Dina Bama Patil from Mumbai North East. However, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee and the Brihanmumbai Regional Congress Committee appear to be losing little sleep over it. For as Congressmen put it: their exits have had more to do with the politics of their family than with the state of the nation -- or the party.
Reacting to Mohite Patil's departure, Congress spokesperson Vasant Chavan said, ``His exit has nothing to do with the rest of the family which is firmly with the Congress. We will win both the seats (Solapur and Pandharpur) where Pratapsinh might have hadsome influence,'' he said.
The dimensions of the three exits are, however, entirely different. While Patil is largely considered a spent force and might contribute a few thousand votes to the kitty of BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan -- who has a tough fight this time against the Congress' Gurudas Kamat -- Shah has very little clout. In any case, the BJP's Ram Naik is already sitting pretty and is considered a formidable candidate to upturn by even Sharad Pawar.
Mohite-Patil, on the other hand should give the Congress a little more cause for worry, for he does have some influence at the local zilla parishad level and might make the going tough for both Sushil Kumar Shinde in Solapur and Sandeepan Thorat in Pandharpur.
Interestingly, all three ex-Congressmen seem to find the state of their family the main stumbling block in seeking a future with the Congress. According to sources in the Congress, Shah has been denied a ticket from Mumbai North because, whipped by a sullied image over the years, theCongress was attempting a clean up and baulked at the idea of endorsing Shah's alleged multiple marriages.
Patil, on the other hand, might not find too many takers in his own family for the BJP. He was the proposer on Kamat's nomination form. Says Kamat's campaign manager Subodh Solanki, ``The best man seems to have deserted the groom.'' However, Patil's wife, a corporator, and son, a student activist both remain with the Congress. They were present on the dais along with Kamat when Pawar launched his campaign in Ghatkopar last week. They led Kamat's padyatra even as Patil was negotiating with the BJP.
Mohite-Patil, for his part finds himself stymied by his brother Vijaysinh, who is chairman of the State sugar co-operative federation. He is also an MLA and was a minister in past Congress governments. ``Pratapsinh obviously sees little chance of surging ahead within the same party with a brother as prominent as this,'' says one Congressman.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
