NEW DELHI: Immediate fallout of the Congress (I) s victory in Amethi, the only saving grace for the party in the most populous state, is mounting pressure from the pro-Sonia lobby and the coterie to include Cept. Satish Sharma in the Union Cabinet.
Even before Capt. Sharma was formally elected, leaders like Ratnakar Pandev had made such a demand, Moves are already afoot among some Congress (I) Rajva Sabha members to discuss the issue before placing it before the Prime Minister, Some of them have already reached the Capital to attend the Parliament session beginning from Wednesday. They had gone in strength to Amethi to vigorously participate in the campaign.
In fact, some of the recent speculation over the possibility of a session eve Cabinet expansion was based on the compulsions for including the new members in the council of ministers, However, until late Monday night, there was no firm indications of such a reshuffle.
The Prime Minister P.V Narasimha Rao, who has of late begun increasingly to arrest himself, is not reportedly averse to the inclusion of Capt. Sharma. He had even mentioned it in a lighter vein in n a recent informed talk with newsmen.
But at the same time, he would not like to give the impression that he was pressure from any particular group .In the case of seats in this year’s election.
As for the Congress (I), many party men feel, that Prime Minister had already proved that the party could make a good showing in elections without either coterie. This has been its greatest achievement. No doubt the congress (I)’s performance has been highly regional as it had been in the last general election. While the party maintained its sway on the entire has been proved too weak in the main Hindi hinterland.
of the assembly seats in UP, the Congress(I ) has not been able to win even one.
There seems to be some let up in the Congress (I)’s initiative in Madhya Pradesh with the BJP trying reassert its presence. . This has been in spite of the show of unity by in the state during the by elections. However, the party has made impressive gains in Rajasthan by wresting two of the for assembly seals. The ruling BJP could win only one seat. A confusing picture emerged both in Gujarat in the west and Orissa in the east
Where while the Congress (I) could take the Lok Sabha seats, all state assembly seats were won by the opposition. By winning two seats in Gujarant, the BJP has become the single largest party the State assembly.
In Orissa, the janata Dal chief minister Biju Patnik has been able to retain his hold on the people through the party had to yield the one Lok Sabha seat to the Congress (I ).
The by election results are bound to worsen the internal crisis in the janata Dal .while V.P. Singh, by staking his prospects in Amethi and turning out to be a poor third, will face increasing challenging from his detractors. His rival ajit singh has not been able to make any mark. In his Bullandshahar domain he could not win even a single seat.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 22, 1991
