UF leaders fear Kesri will pull the plug on Gujral govt soon

Sitaram Kesri's victory in the Congress organisational election has sent tremors through the United Front. UF leaders fear Kesri -- having already demonstrated his power to pull down a government -- will not hesitate to make a fresh bid for the prime ministership.

Kesri got elected on Thursday as Congress president, winning 82.36 per cent of the votes. Many Congress leaders say since he is in an unassailable position within the party, he will have the backing of other Congress leaders if he decides to withdraw support to the UF government.

"Kesri's victory should not seen as a threat to the UF government. But it is definitely a warning that the Congress will not tolerate any attack on the party from the UF partners," says Oscar Fernandes, the Congress president's aide and chief returning officer for this week's party election.

According to Fernandes, Kesri is all set to launch a series of programmes to breathe vitality into the Congress. "A revitalised Congress will be better positioned to deal with the UF government than a weak Congress," he told Rediff On The NeT.

Fernandes said a meeting of the All-India Congress Committee is being planned in August. Before that event, Kesri could make some key changes in the organisational set-up. His latest supporters -- Pranab Mukherjee, Jitendra Prasada and Arjun Singh -- are expected to get important posts in coming weeks.

What has begun worrying the UF coalition led by Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral is Kesri's statement soon after winning the election. "My victory proves that Congressmen have fully endorsed my decision to withdraw support to the Deve Gowda government for trying to harm the Congress," he said.

"The message is that the Congress under Kesri is restive and can withdraw support any time he wishes," said a senior UF leader. Front leaders believe any plans to oust the Gujral government will not face any opposition within the Congress.

Just a day after his coronation, several Congress leaders have begun pressing Kesri to launch efforts to realign the United Front and put a Congress-led government into power. "But any move to pull the rug from under Gujral's feet will be preceded by a concrete plan, unlike the March 30 attempt," a Kesri supporter said.

UF leaders suspect that Kesri will try and rope in Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Laloo Prasad Yadav and G K Moopanar of the Tamil Maanila Congress.

Mulayam Singh is not happy with the Gujral government, especially since Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is running the state administration like her personal fiefdom. The defence minister will only be too happy to join hands with the Congress, if Kesri agrees to a formal alliance with his party in UP.

Already, UP Congress chief Jitendra Prasada has conveyed to Kesri that that only a Congress-SP alliance can take on the Bharatiya Janata Party-Bahujan Samaj Party government in the state.

Moreover, recent developments in the Janata Dal -- specially Laloo Yadav's insistence on contesting the party presidential elections -- were tacitly backed by Kesri and other Congress leaders. Laloo Yadav makes it a point to meet and discuss politics with Kesri whenever he visits Delhi.

Kesri may find it more difficult to win over Moopanar. The Congress president may use Sonia Gandhi to achieve this; Kesri believes the TMC will rejoin the Congress if Sonia says so.

Congress leaders close to Kesri disclosed that plans to pull down the government are still at an early stage. "We are assessing the pros and cons of getting support from other parties for a Congress government. I do not think the Congress will go on supporting the Gujral government for more than six months from now," a senior party leader told Rediff On The NeT. "Kesri wants to show that the Congress has more numbers than the BJP in the Lok Sabha. We will be ready for that soon."