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Kesri set to win, may strip Pawar of crucial post
George Iype in New Delhi
As Congress chief Sitaram Kesri moves towards victory in the the party presidential poll, his supporters are baying for Sharad Pawar's blood.
Demanding his resignation from the second most important post -- party leadership in the Lok Sabha, Kesri's supporters on Monday mounted a major offensive to marginalise Pawar. They plan to achieve this by Thursday, when poll results trickle in.
''Pawar's fight against Kesri proves that he is an opportunist.
Therefore, it is not politically correct to let him continue in the crucial post,'' Mruthunjay Nayak, a Kesri supporter and secretary of the Congress Parliamentary Party told Rediff On The NeT.
According to Nayak, Pawar was trying to grab the Congress presidency for the last six months. Earlier Pawar joined hands with the United Front partners and then prime minister H D Deve Gowda to marginalise the Congress president, he alleged.
''We doubt which side of the fence Pawar is -- with the Congress
or the United Front government,'' he added.
On Sunday, Nayak and Congress MPs Suresh Pachauri, Pratap Reddy, Mulcnadh Meena, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Iqbal
Singh issued a statement. ''Pawar no longer enjoys
the confidence of the CPP leader Kesri. Therefore, we demand his
resignation as Congress leader in the Lok Sabha,'' it said.
Kesri gave Pawar the post after the latter supported him
in ousting former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao as party president and CPP chief.
Kesri's other confidantes like K Karunakaran and G Venkatswamy
had fumed against Pawar's coronation and even demanded
similar posts as rewards for their loyalty to the party
president.
But Pawar's machinations and aborted attempts to strike a deal
with United Front leaders after Kesri withdrew Congress
support to the government ruffled Kesri's feathers. The Congress
chief's suspicions were strengthened when Pawar remained silent following then prime minister Deve Gowda attacked Kesri during the vote of confidence debate on April 11.
Kesri's supporters then criticised Pawar's ''inaction in
Parliament'', demanding his ouster as the party's leader in the Lok Sabha. They failed then. But now they believe their campaign will be successful.
However, the third contender for the Congress presidency -- Rajesh
Pilot -- is unlikely to be affected by the Kesri's group's offensive. Kesri has already said that second preference votes should go to Pilot.
Many leaders anticipate that, soon after his victory Kesri, will
carry out a major ''purge'' in the Congress. He is expected to accord important posts to his loyalists while marginalising the Rao-Pawar
camp followers. ''The organisational elections will
begin another round of bitter fighting within the party,''
a Congress leader pointed out.
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