NEW DELHI: R.K. Dhawan dinner diplomacy in recent days has raised eyebrows in the Congress party.

The former aide of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and has been politically active in more ways than one. In the last few days, he has given three dinners in a row for party MPs, the last one being two days ago. The recent function was attended by 5Omembers from both Houses of Parliament mainly from the southern states and from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, though no minister was present.

However, the dinner which was virtually co-hosted by the New Delhi MP Rajesh Khanna, was attended by former External Affairs Minister Madhav Singh Solanki among others, Conspicuous by their absence were supporters of Sharad Pawar though a large number of MPs from Maharashtra attended the function. Similarly no supporter of Arjun Singh was present though Madhya Pradesh members like Arvind Netam and S.S. Thakur were there.

Though at Tirupati, Dhawan had made common cause with both Arjun Singh and Sharad Pawars panel in the CWC elections, the recent dinner, according to those present, was to bring together the old time,

Dhawan supporters explain the exercise as no more than Tirupati thanksgiving which had not been possible earlier. However, others in the party are not convinced  The dinners are being seen as an attempt by Dhawan to build a pressure group in the party and demonstrate his hold in the Congress.

Party sources say that the Rajya Sabha MP is trying to create a pressure point for the Prime Minister, since he was not inducted in the ministry. However, others feel that his sights are set on the chief minister ship of Delhi.

The Rajya Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh, with his wide network in the ruling party, thanks to the position he enjoyed intermittently, is obviously looking for a larger role for himself. From a back-room politics for which he was known, he made news when he won handsomely in the CWC elections and more recently when his efforts ensured Rajesh Khanna 30,000 vote victory in New Delhi by worrying the BJP and after having got the better of a party heavyweight like H.K.L. Bhagat.

Dhawan, who was elected as an AICC delegate from Uttar Pradesh, attracted attention recently because of the forays he plans to make in the state later to address rallies.

However, political significance is being attributed to the Dhawan doings because of the issue he has picked on. Through his aggressive posture on the securities scam, he is seen in party circles to be gunning for the Finance Minister and would like to get together all those who feel that Dr. Manmohan Singh should take moral responsibility for the mega scandal and step down. That apart, the attack on the Finance Minister is being viewed as an attack on the Prime Minister indirectly.

Dhawan was the only one who had come fully prepared with a written note at the finance Ministers session with party MPs; He raised 26 points on the scam, which needed answers and emphasized the failure of the Finance Ministry. He made references to the foreign scholarship to the Finance Ministers daughter; incidentally he locked horns with Mani Shankar Aiyer who then suggested that JPC be set to probe the entire gamut of the scandal. Subsequently, Dhawan also spoke in the Rajya Sabha on the subject.

 

Article extracted from this publication >> July 31, 1992