NEW DELHI, January 22: In keeping with the confusion clouding the actual manoeuvres within the Congress, party president Sitaram Kesri today paid homage to former prime minister Gulzarilal Nanda twice.The unusual situation the incident was the talk of the day in party circles arose mainly because of the total absence of communication between Kesri and Sonia Gandhi, observers said.
Nanda's ashes were kept at the party's Akbar Road headquarters in the morning, where Kesri duly arrived to pay his tributes. But he returned in the afternoon after being informed that Sonia was going there to pay her respects. And this time the two of them climbed on to the dais together, after having missed out on the joint rally at Ranchi yesterday. Sonia, incidentally, is also being noticed for the rediscovery of Nanda. After she left, it was the turn of leaders to pay homage to Nanda. And soon thereafter, a horde of Congress workers made a beeline for their new-found "beloved leader."
Minutes before Sonia's arrival, a
visibly excited Kesri could be seen getting the parked vehicles shifted from the area around the dais. "In gadion ko yahan se hatao (Move these vehicles from here)," he told the party workers when Sonia's securitymen started cordoning off the dais.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
