MUMBAI, Aug 6: The race for a second representation from Maharashtra on the Congress Working Committee appears to have intensified following party president Sitaram Kesri's directive that Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs and Legislature party leaders keep out of it.

This automatically rules out at least three prominent leaders from the state: Ranjit Deshmukh, Chhagan Bhujbal and Madhukarrao Pichad. All three are core Pawar supporters. The race now is to see if former chief minister Sharad Pawar succeeds in getting another supporter elected, or his detractors have the upper hand.

There is some ambiguity about Pawar's own eligibility, considering he is only floor leader in the Lok sabha and not a Legislature party chief. However, as the names begin to make the rounds -- among these are two former chief ministers A R Antulay and S B Chavan -- there has been a comic interlude. Former MLA Ramesh Dubey has decided to oppose the candidature of Sunil Dutt, a former MP. Dutt, for his part has no idea that he is contesting the post.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Dutt today expressed genuine surprise that there should be a campaign against him when he had neither expressed the desire to contest the post nor been offered the job. However, the controversy appears to have arisen out of the fact that the maximum number of candidatures for the CWC have come from Maharashtra and the search is on for a compromise candidate who would appeal to Kesri, yet pose no threat to him at the political level.

Pawar is already a CWC member under the current party executive. According to sources in the Maharashtra Congress, his re-election to the post is almost certain. His current hospitalisation for a knee cap injury, however, had raised doubts about his ability to attend the All India Congress Committee session in Calcutta, beginning Friday. Inability to canvass for votes in person would put him at the mercy of his party chief for a possible nomination.

Gleeful Pawar detractors appear to be taking advantage of the situation to state that once bitten, the Maratha strongman is now running twice shy. ``Having invited a miserable defeat at the elections to the post of party president, Pawar could be laying grounds for a tactical retreat,'' said one senior Congress leader. Nevertheless, all Congress factions in the state admit, that notwithstanding his differences with Kesri, Pawar is likely to be accommodated in the CWC for the simple reason that he is the only Congress leader in Maharashtra with grassroots support. But neither Antulay nor Chavan are likely to be Kesri's preferred candidates to checkmate Pawar on the CWC. ``This is because, Antulay was responsible for putting Kesri in a bad light earlier this year and without much grassroots support, he is not likely to be needed. On the other hand, the only importance that Chavan holds is that he could be depended upon to take on Pawar,'' a delegate to the AICC meet told The Indian Express before leaving for Caclutta.

It is in this context of such ``limited uses'' that Dutt's candidature becomes important, he said. ``He has the charisma, and despite all his personal problems, he has always been loyal to the party and its leaders. Moreover, he is a good campaigner– though not a politician in the true sense he can still be depended upon to attract crowds,'' the delegate said.

However, though so far uninterested, Dutt is setting out for Calcutta simply to attend the session without ambitions for a CWC job, a senior MPCC executive said for a possible second seat from Maharashtra, consensus could build up on Dutt's candidature. ``I am amazed,'' says an astonished Dutt. Pawar, meanwhile, seems to have confounded his critics by making a hasty recovery. He will be present in Calcutta, even if he has to hobble into the meeting. While trainloads of his detractors are still enroute, he flies out tomorrow, well in time for the session beginning August 8.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.