NEW DELHI, Nov 5: In an interesting development, Congress president Sitaram Kesri today said his party would consider joining the United Front Government at the Centre if such a proposal came from the Front.

``Let the UF initiate something. If the proposal comes from them, we will consider it,'' Kesri said at his residence this evening. This is the first time that the Congress president was putting this view on record and it leaves a whole set of fresh options open at the Centre.

However, the United Front constituents saw the Congress Party ``weakening'' and felt that there was no need for inviting it to join the government.

Instead, they felt that Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral should expand his council of ministers so that a message is sent across the country about the stability of the Government.

Although Gujral obliquely mentioned to some of the UF leaders present during the lunch break whether the Congress could be brought into the system to strengthen the UF Government, majority of leaders felt that the Congress has already ``weakened'' and the process of polarisation be watched.

Gujral agreed with the assessment of the Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh, a Samajwai Party MP, that there was no immediate threat to the UF government from any quarter.

However, the issue was not taken up by the UF's Steering Committee formally today. On the contrary, Gujral silenced the Front's Steering Committee chairman H D Deve Gowda and others by saying that his coordination with Congress president Sitaram Kesri, was ``perfect'' and there was no need for an expanded coordination committee. Coming back to Kesri's surprise statement on joining the Front Govt, a large section of Congressmen believe that the party is not in a position to come to power on its own anymore.

This is a position diametrically opposite to what Kesri envisaged in the Congress plenary session at Calcutta. The thought of the Congress joining a coalition government at the Centre has been in the air for over a year.It surfaces periodically, whenever the Congress leadership is in big trouble. Even now, Kesri's stand is being interpreted as a fresh gambit to keep the party together in the face of trouble everywhere. After being implicated in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) case yesterday by the approver, Shailendra Mahato, Kesri's stock dived further in the party.

Almost at once, the Narasimha Rao camp got into action and expressed glee at the tidings. Clearly the manner in which Rao was dumped after he got entangled in a legal mess is still hurting. Former All India Congress Commitee (AICC) general secretaries and ministers like Devendra Dwivedi, BP Maurya and Matang Singh respectively are quite happy at Kesri's added discomfiture.

Being listed as an accused is a nightmare which Kesri has been having for a while. He fears this more than the sundry political challenges he is facing. But with news getting worse almost daily for the Congress and Kesri, the crafty Congress president, seems to have thrown up the bait of power yet again.

With him now articulating openly what several Congress leaders were stressing on earlier, the ball shifts temporarily into the UF's court. The Left parties are against the Congress joining the government. Even today senior Left leaders said the issue of Congress joining the UF government was not discussed in the Steering Committee meeting.

The Left feels that if a section of the UF agrees to it, the Communist Party of India (CPI), which is a component in the UF ministry, will review its continuance in the Union Cabinet. ``Objectively, I don't think the UF is prepared to surrender 10 states to the Congress,'' a Left leader said. He was referring to the fact that the Congress is the main opponent for UF constituents in these states and joining hands with the Congress would make little political sense.

At the moment it appears that Kesri is merely playing for time. His hands are full currently and opening up the debate on this issue again could keep him away from the limelight for a while within the Congress. Kesri is worried that party MPs may be harbouring a desire for power directly instead of the current set up where the Congress is propping up the UF government from outside.

A similar situation led to the defection to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh, and even in Gujarat some Congress leaders want to join the Dilip Parikh government. The Congress is keeping the option open in Gujarat as party spokesperson VN Gadgil said again today.

He also dismissed rumours that the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) would split, saying it was the work of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). But things don't seem as simple as that, considering the stress Kesri is now laying on MPs. At a function to mark the taking charge of new Sewa Dal chairman Suresh Pachauri today, Kesri told Dal workers to involve MPs in its functions. Nobody present missed the point. Meanwhile, Kesri chaired a meeting of AICC office-bearers this afternoon at the party headquarters.

Gadgil said it discussed routine organisational matters.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.