NEW DELHI, May 1: Senior Congress leader A R Antulay, a known Sitaram Kesri baiter, is to run for the post of Congress party president in the elections to be held this month if no other ``suitable'' candidate is in the fray.

Sources close to him said Antulay does not consider Kesri a ``suitable'' candidate for the top party post. They said that Antulay had written two letters to the Election Commission (EC) recently to suggest that the organisational elections were ``too important'' a matter to be left to Kesri's discretion.

Antulay's argument is that Kesri is only the party's ``provisional president'' and has failed to get his selection (by the Congress Working Committee) ratified by the All India Congress Committee (AICC), as required under the Congress constitution.

In another development today, it was decided not to kick off party organisational elections before May 16. The decision was taken after a meeting held at Kesri's home, attended among others by Sharad Pawar, K Vijayabhaskar Reddy, K Karunakaran and Pranab Mukherjee.

Sources said Pawar and Mukherjee requested Kesri to extend the date till after May 16 as party MPs would be busy during the Budget session of Parliament. However, the party will complete the organisational election process by May 31 including the election of the party president, they said. Meanwhile, Kesri said at an Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) meeting today that he was being ``cornered'' for his decision to withdraw support to the Deve Gowda Government.

Kesri did not specify whether he was being ``cornered'' from within the party or outside, but declared that as a freedom fighter he was prepared to face the challenge from his detractors.

He defended his decision, saying the withdrawal of support to the Gowda Government had resulted in the Congress setting the agenda for the country's governance.

``Till March 30, the BJP, the United Front and others used to set the agenda. But it is the Congress party that has set the agenda after that day,'' he claimed.

Fighting to regain his position within the party after the failure of his recent political coup, Congress president Sitaram Kesri today nominated Orissa Chief Minister J B Patnaik to the powerful Congress Working Committee. Patnaik's nomination, which filled the last vacancy in the 20-member body, is being viewed in party circles as the latest attempt by Kesri to consolidate his hold over key bodies, ahead of the crucial organisational elections, which have to be completed by May 31 as stipulated by EC.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.