NEW DELHI, June 1: Hopes of hammering out a consensus within the Congress party, on the choice of a new party president, have dimmed considerably on the eve of the deadline for withdrawal of nominations. None of the three contenders, Sharad Pawar, Rajesh Pilot and Sitaram Kesri, showed any sign of bowing out of the race.

Pawar and Pilot reiterated, in Chennai and Calcutta respectively, that they would stay in the contest come what may. An indication of their seriousness was their tour schedule. While Pawar is slated to return here tomorrow morning at 10 am, before resuming his campaign; Pilot will barely touch Delhi airport before flying out again. ``His is an airport to airport transfer and he will be back here on June 4,'' a Pilot aide said tonight.

These whistle-stop tours indicate that party president, Sitaram Kesri's, peace-making efforts have had no impact. However, a hopeful Tariq Anwar, Kesri's political secretary, said, ``A clear picture has not yet emerged. Senior leaders are in touch regularly and technically, the contestants can retire anytime till June 9.''

Anwar himself was involved in parleys with Congress Working Committee (CWC) members Pranab Mukherjee, Jitendra Prasada and K Karunakaran today. He also spoke to another CWC member Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy, besides Ashok Gehlot and P R Das Munshi. Nothing concrete emerged from the deliberations as most of these leaders are currently supporting Kesri The discussions mainly centred on the response which Pawar and Pilot were drawing in their tours around the country. The Karnataka Congress Legislature Party (CLP) reported to Kesri on what Pawar said in Bangalore which was his first stop. Apparently, the Kesri camp's main worry is the influence which Pawar can garner with his assured financial clout. If things begin to look uncomfortable, Kesri may decide to end some of his men on a country-wide tour.

Karunakaran was also involved in sundry parleys and met Pranab Mukherjee and other leaders. The Kerala leader has not yet given up on efforts at persuading Sonia Gandhi to head the party. Both Pawar and Kesri reiterated that they would opt out only if Sonia entered the picture but Pilot made no such commitment.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.