Cong dissidents gear up for party chief elections

Cong dissidents gear up for party chief elections
SANJIV SINHA

NEW DELHI, OCT 9: With less than a month to go for the Congress president's election, Sonia Gandhi's political aides have begun a major offensive to ``neutralise'' pockets of opposition within and ensure that she gets elected unopposed.

The ticklish issue of whether Sonia will face a challenge in the party polls has become a much discussed topic in the party and sources say that the next few weeks will be very crucial for her.

Her loyalists are in direct touch with all the CWC members, PCC chiefs and other senior leaders in the states in a bid to appease some and rein in others. The recent statement of senior CWC member Vijayabhaskara Reddy unequivocally supporting her leadership is being viewed as part of this exercise. Reddy was said to be part of the anti-Sonia axis in the party.

But while her loyalists are on the job, the dissidents are also not far behind and are said to be planning on putting up a fight. Their main problem, however, is a senior candidate who also has enough support to pose serious challenge to Sonia.

For the moment, all eyes are on senior CWC member Jitendra Prasada who is viewed as leading the pack of dissidents and is considered as one of the likely candidates for the president's post, in case a challenge gets going.

Prasada, who has kept away from Sonia's coterie led by Arjun Singh, has been positioning himself for a contest, though sources close to him say he is yet to make up his mind. The veteran leader, who was the party's vice-president during Kesri's tenure, had teamed up with Rajesh Pilot on the catchy issue of inner party democracy but with the latter's untimely death, the onus of continuing the fight has come on him.

The party president's polls are scheduled for November 11 but the issue of a contest will be clear on October 28, the last date for withdrawal of nominations. If Sonia gets elected unopposed, it will come as a major boost to her as it would signify a reaffirmation of her leadership.

Any challenge, on the other hand, would mean that at least some don't believe in her leadership. This would dent her claim to unassailed leadership, apart from opening up a credible alternate power centre which would always be a thorn in her side.

So far most opposition to her has been in the form of ``closet dissidents,'' who have privately disapproved of her actions but have expressed faith in her leadership publicly. For them, the party polls offer perhaps the last opportunity to challenge Sonia since her unopposed election would, apart from making her that much more stronger, also seriously weaken their own credibility.

Although it is not easy to take on the incumbent party chief -- the examples of Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot who stood and lost by huge margins against Sitaram Kesri in 1997 are still recalled in party circles -- the logic behind putting up a candidate against Sonia is that even if he loses, the very fact that her leadership is challenged will give the dissidents a raison d'etre.