RAJIV NAGAR: If there is one picture which has left a deep imprint on the minds of those who watched the concluding moments of the historic congress plenary on Thursday night it is that of a motley crowd of second rung partymen flanking the Prime Minister when the seva dal choir sang the national anthem. Not a single member of the just-elected working committee was around ‘They had all deserted him within hours of their election.
It is difficult to read too much into it at this stage. The most charitable construction would be that it was an unfortunate coincidence. But those who have seen AICC sessions in the past do not recall a single instance when ministerial and party colleagues decided to stay away when a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family was on the dias. The final moments of the plenary were however in sharp contrast to the grand opening on Tuesday when everybody who was somebody in the party was jolting for a place on the stage.
Tirupati therefore has been a mixed bag for the Prime Minister. If the decision to hold elections to the working committee has enhanced the image of Narasimha Rao and the Congress in the public eye it could also mean trouble for him now that a new syndicate has emerged in the party.
There is an irony in all this because it was at Tirupati that the syndicate bosses of the old Congress had met and chalked out their plans to checkmate Indira Gandhi. That it eventually led to the Congress split of 1969 is a different story unless one believes that history repeats itself with such uncanny regularity.
The comfortable and even massive margins with which S.Arjun Singh and Sharad Pawar have won their seats in the CWC have undoubtedly enhanced their political clout because they are now in the party’s highest decision-making body as a matter of right. They do no to the position in the CWC to anybody’s charity and it will be of interest to see whether they will begin to flaunt their new-found clout.
If they choose to do so it is certain to inhibit the Prime Minister. Although the plenary itself has given his policies a handsome mandate the package is far from complete and Rao will need to give him enough room to maintain the pace of his economic reform. While the Narasimha Rao Mohan Singh combines has thus far had its way. Arjun Singh hinted at the need for collective leadership in the party even as the CWC election votes were being counted and the word went round that he was well and truly ahead of others. While joining others in praising Rao’s “sagacity” Singh made the significant observation that the tasks ahead were so immense that it would not be possible for any single leader to shoulder the responsibility.
It will be interesting to watch what will happen if the new power game in the Congress leads to a great say for Arjun Singh in the affairs of the party and governnment. The events of the past few months have shown that he and Rao differ on at least three counts: attitude towards the BJP attitude towards Sonia Gandhi and the new economic policy.
As regards Sharad Pawar the areas of disagreement between him and the Prime Minister if any have been less obvious.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 1, 1992
