NEW DELHI, May 2: The revised schedule for Congress party elections announced today is a veiled warning by party president Sitaram Kesri to potential rivals not to queer the pitch for him or they could face problems in getting elected to the party's apex body, the Congress Working Committee.

According to the new schedule, the election of the party president would now take place on July 11, and the process would be completed by the middle of that month and not by the end of May as announced earlier.

The catch, however, lies in scheduling the election of the Pradesh Congress Committee presidents and the PCC executives a day after the election of the Congress president. The idea appears to be to get many of the PCCs, particularly those which are dogged by controversies, to leave their choice to the new party chief, once he is installed.

The PCCs are crucial in deciding who gets elected to the All India Congress Committee, and the AICC delegates, numbering around 850, will elect the CWC members. If Kesri can manage to ensure his sway over even half of them, he would control the CWC. There are around 6,500 delegates, elected by the blocks, who form the electoral college to elect the AICC president, and the AICC delegates.

The lines are therefore already getting drawn for the membership of the CWC. For, despite rumblings in forces arrayed against him, the election of Kesri as the Congress chief is considered a foregone conclusion. As an old timer put it, ``anyone who raises his head against the established leadership of the party is not considered a real Congressman. Such is the culture of the Congress party which outsiders do not understand.''

While announcing the new election schdule for the party, Pranab Mukherji admitted that after 1950, there has been no contest for Congress presidentship.

Kesri moved swiftly today and had the new schedule announced when speculation became rife that A R Antulay would throw his hat in the ring. A contest could rob the party chief of the shine of having a unanimous election. The Congress chief called Antulay for consultations today but the Maharashtra leader is believed to have informed Kesri about his intention to contest for the post of the party chief. He said that no Muslim leader had occupied this post and it was time that an effort was made to end the minorities' alienation from the Congress.

The Congress president is also not unaware of the move which is afoot that Kesri should not appoint the Pradesh Returning Officers (PROs) since he is going to be a candidate himself, in the interest of impartiality. The election process hinges essentially on the PROs who in turn appoint the district returning officers and they select their block level counterparts to oversee the poll process.

In the past, PROs have been used effectively by the party high command to swing for it what it wants.

There is another element in the picture which may have forced Kesri to act today, and that is the Election Commission. A petition has been filed before the Election Commission by someone called Ashok Kumar Thakur claiming to be a ``public spirited citizen''. He has challenged the action of the Bihar PCC chief in sacking 13 district committee chiefs on the eve of party elections. He has also urged the Commission to ensure that organisational elections are held according to the provisions of the party constitution.The petition will be taken up for hearing soon.

Earlier this month, Kesri's bete noire Jagannath Mishra had made similar points in a note to the party chief and urged him to reverse these acts.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.