Sonia presides over CWC meet
George Iype and Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty returned to centerstage on Saturday.
Nearly seven years after her husband perished at Sriperumbudur, Sonia Gandhi became president of the Congress party.
The Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, 52, formally took control of the 112-year-old party after the apex Congress Working Committee unceremoniously tossed Sitaram Kesri out of the post.
The CWC, which met on Saturday morning to review the political situation in the light of President K R Narayanan inviting the party to know its views on government formation, used the opportunity to decide upon Kesri's March 9 announcement to quit office.
Senior CWC leaders conducted the transfer of power successfully, and almost unanimously. The meeting began with top leaders like Arjun Singh, Sharad Pawar and Ghulam Nabi Azad urging Kesri to quit office since he had already announced his resignation.
There were only two dissenting voices, that of Kesri himself and his close aide and political advisor Tariq Anwar. Seeing Kesri would not relent, the CWC then exercised the provisions of the party constitution to elevate Sonia to the top post.
Soon Pawar, Azad and A K Antony drove to her home at 10 Janpath Road and obtained her consent for the decision.
In the midst of it all, Kesri walked out angrily. The CWC then passed a resolution "removing the confusion and the state of uncertainty leading to irreparable and immense harm to the party."
"The CWC resolves to appoint Mrs Sonia Gandhi as president of the Indian National Congress, exercising the powers conferred in the Congress constitution with immediate effect," it said.
''The party need not wait for Kesri's resignation as the CWC has already taken the decision,'' said a party source.
Kesri later termed Sonia Gandhi's elevation "illegal and unconstitutional", declared that he would not resign and said that he did not consider her appointment valid.
He said he did not accept Sonia's elevation and that he would accept her as party president only if he quits and hands her the post. ''As of now, I am the Congress president. But I have no intention of entering into a confrontation in the evening of my life,'' he said.
Significantly, even Anwar cautioned Kesri to take the back seat. But Kesri reportedly retorted that he had been elected as party chief as well as Congress Parliamentary Party leader and that no one could make him give up these two posts if he did not
wish to do so.
Kesri also made the mistake of not helping the party's electoral campaign. Apart from distributing party tickets, he visited very few places to forward the party's cause.
In contrast, Sonia made whirlwind tours of remote parts of the country and the attendance at her meetings became the envy of Opposition politicians. This and the poor response to Kesri at meetings both addressed convinced the party that Kesri should go and that Gandhi should take over.
Party members felt Kesri's claim that he would resign at the All-India Congress Committee meeting was hollow.
He could yet create problems for Sonia since, according to the party constitution, the Congress president cannot be removed without his consent. Whether the CWC overrules this constitutional provision remains to be seen, but Kesri is likely to do himself further harm if he continues to swim against the tide.
In the evening, Sonia made a dramatic appearance at the AICC headquarters and hundreds of party workers cheered her, amidst a display of fireworks. Surrounded by security guards, the new Congress president took a round of the party offices, presided over a CWC meeting and announced that the AICC would be convened on April 4 in New Delhi.
"The Congress is in for a new era. Sonia will be a great unifying force in the party," former Union minister Margaret Alva told Rediff On The NeT.
Congress leaders like Alva feel Sonia's formal foray has given the party fresh life. "Sonia remains the most preferred leader of the Congress," Alva said.
As former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's widow takes up the top post in the party, many believe the shape of power politics in the Congress will change dramatically.
Her immediate challenge is to ensure that the new CPP leader is elected unanimously. The CPP leader's election is scheduled for Monday, March 16, and there are many claimants for the crucial post, including Sharad Pawar, Madhavrao Scindia, Rajesh Pilot and K Karunakaran.
Sources said Sonia's personal choice is CWC member and former finance minister Dr Manmohan Singh. But since Pawar -- after his sterling performance in Maharashtra -- has the numbers on his side, Sonia may be inclined to support him.
"Pawar's election is a certainty. We don't expect Sonia to be a stumbling block," a Congress official close to the new Congress president said. Sceptics claim that while she will be successful in uniting the party rank and file, she may be bogged down by the Bofors scandal, ammunition which a new Bharatiya Janata Party government is sure to use against her.
Congress sources said one of Sonia's top priorities will be to bring back former Congress leaders like Mamata Bannerjee and G K Moopanar, who now lead their own outfits, the Trinamul Congress and the Tamil Maanila Congress respectively, back into the fold.
Elections '98
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