Rediff On The NeT: CWC may punish rebels as Sonia refuses to return


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May 19, 1999

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CWC may punish rebels as Sonia refuses to return

George Iype in New Delhi

Two days after she quit as Congress president in protest against the attack by three rebel leaders on her Italian origin, Sonia Gandhi remained adamant that she would not withdraw her resignation.

Gandhi's refusal to take back her resignation and the upheaval in the party on the issue has ensured that the crucial Congress Working Committee meeting scheduled to be held in her absence on Thursday evening will take strict disciplinary action against Sharad Pawar, Purno Sangma and Tariq Anwar.

All the CWC members -- minus the rebel trio -- met Gandhi separately through Wednesday, pleading with her to reconsider her decision. But she was unrelenting and indicated to some that they had better look for a consensus candidate as the next Congress president.

Her close confidants and advisers like Arjun Singh, Pranab Mukherjee and Ram Pradhan were closeted with Gandhi to finalise the punishment to be meted out to Pawar, Sangma and Anwar.

Party sources said Gandhi has agreed unwillingly to the two punishment options the CWC has informally placed before her: issue a show-cause notice to the rebels or expel them from the party immediately.

While some CWC members fear that expelling Pawar, Sangma and Anwar at this juncture will make martyrs of them and put the party in an awkward position, the hue and cry over Gandhi's resignation from party cadres across the country will force the apex body to consider strict action.

"Pawar, Sangma and Anwar still stick to their opposition to Sonia's leadership of the Congress. Therefore, we are left with no option but to punish them for throwing the party into an unnecessary crisis," senior CWC member K Karunakaran told Rediff On The NeT.

He said the question of a new president taking over the Congress has not yet come up for discussion among the CWC members. "We are still hopeful that Sonia will come back to lead us," he said.

While Gandhi's unexpected stepping down has created an instant sympathy wave across the country, many in the party now feel it will be impossible for her to withdraw the resignation immediately.

"She is caught in a Catch-22 situation. If she takes back her resignation now, the opposition parties and a section of Congress leaders will dub her action as a melodrama," one Congressman pointed out.

Her aides Margaret Alva and Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit, who met Gandhi today, suggested that she give in to the people's wishes and resume as Congress president on May 21, the eighth death anniversary of her husband Rajiv Gandhi.

But her children Priyanka Vadra and Rahul are said to be adamant that she should not head the Congress, now that senior leaders have openly questioned her leadership credentials. A close Gandhi aide said both Priyanka and Rahul have advised Sonia "not to pick up the dirt any more".

"Sonia is very close to her children. And it likely that she will abide by their advice because this is the first time after Rajiv's death that Sonia is so emotionally upset," he pointed out.

Therefore, he said, Gandhi would now prefer to stay in the background, remain the party's power centre as she did for seven years since 1991, and nominate a new president.

But the possibility of Gandhi's renunciation of the party's leadership has led to a mad scramble for the post amongst the other leaders. Sources said the leading contenders for the post of Congress president are CWC members Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee and Madhavrao Scindia.

While Dr Singh will not insist on his candidature, both Mukherjee and Scindia are busy soliciting support within the party to get hold of the powerful post.

But in case of a power struggle on the issue, Gandhi will choose Dr Singh. But both he and Mukherjee have never been members of the Lok Sabha and so will be criticised as leaders with no grassroots touch. And there are said to be not many supporters for Scindia even within the CWC.

Pawar's supporters say he is waiting to be expelled from the party to float a new outfit. They feel it would help Pawar if he is thrown out of the party for generating a debate on Gandhi's prime ministerial suitability.

"We expect a new realignment of political parties soon after Pawar, Sangma and Anwar are expelled," a Pawar loyalist told Rediff On The NeT.

With Pawar as the central figure, those who will play major roles in the proposed realignment are former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Chandrashekhar, and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

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