Kesri may dump Gujral after AICC meet

Thursday, June 26 1997

Kesri may dump Gujral after AICC meet

Harish Gupta

NEW DELHI, June 25: With the final settlement of the Congress leadership issue, loyalists of triumphant Sitaram Kesri are becoming increasingly restive to play a lead role in national affairs than continue to be a second fiddle to the United Front's fragile government.

If behind-the-scene activities at 24 Akbar Road are any indication, the honeymoon between the Congress and Prime Minister I K Gujral is coming to a close. The Congress plenary session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in Calcutta in August will send a clear signal of the strained relationship.

Senior party functionaries including those in the drafting committee of resolutions to be adopted at the plenary session in Calcutta have started expressing doubts about Gujral's capacity to deliver.

Congress president Sitaram Kesri has given enough hints to his core group that the party cannot be a silent spectator to non-governance. Kesri maintained a studied silence when one of his trusted lieutenants said at a closed-door meeting that Gujral's doctrine is nothing but surrender to all.

It is felt that while Deve Gowda was only trying to destroy the Congress, Gujral is too soft to handle the problems being faced by the country. His handling of the Laloo Yadav affair is also a cause of concern to the Congress.

The decision to hold a plenary session on August 8, 9 and 10 is aimed at sending a message that Congress is set to play the lead role. After humiliating Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot at the recently held organisational elections, Kesri has set his eyes on the Delhi's gaddi and is not averse to go the people with the stability plank.

He will like to a have a new working committee which is packed with his loyalists and ensure that Pawar and Pilot fail to get the minimum 250 votes needed to win out of 1000 AICC members.

It is in this background that the drafting committee of the Congress party comprising of Pranab Mukherjee, Nawal Kishore Sharma, A K Antony, Manmohan Singh and others is busy drafting resolutions which will be critical of the Gujral government.