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Congress, BJP guarded about JMM verdict

Former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao's conviction in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha bribery case on Friday may have spelt doom for his efforts to kickstart his latent political career but has provided succour to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Expectedly, the Congress declined to comment on Rao's conviction with party spokesman Ajit Jogi saying, "We want to study the charges against Raoji and only then we will be in a position to make any comment."

Party general secretary Ambika Soni said, "Our leadership will have to carefully go through the charges against Rao."

However, the Sonia camp cannot but be happy about Rao's certain and inevitable phasing out from the political centrestage.

"If you remember, Narasimha Rao had actively but surreptitiously resisted Sonia's entry into politics, fully aware that once she came into the party fold it would be curtains for him. That is what eventually happened," said a Congressperson who was an All India Congress Committee general secretary under Rao's dispensation as party chief.

He stressed that while Sonia had been unconcerned about any serious threat from the likes of Rao and former party chief Sitaram Kesri, the former's tacit backing to party dissidents led by senior Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Jitendra Prasada had given her some anxious moments.

He said with the Congress organisational elections underway, Sonia's main priority was her re-election as party chief. The election is scheduled for November 1.

Party critics like Prasada and K Karunakaran had been in touch with Rao and Kesri for chalking out their strategy against Sonia. Now that Rao has been convicted in the JMM bribery case, the Sonia camp could breathe a sigh of relief, the former Congress general secretary pointed out.

However, according to former Congressman, who is now in the Bharatiya Janata Party, S S Ahluwalia some of the opprobrium from the scandal will spill over on the Congress as Rao headed a party government. "Congress will have to take some of the rap, whether Sonia likes it or not," Ahluwalia maintained.

BJP leaders have adopted a cautious approach towards Rao's conviction. BJP spokesman M Venkaiah Naidu said, "I think the Congress has to do some soul-searching."

Senior BJP leader and party national executive member J P Mathur felt that in the light of Rao's conviction 'the impression of the Congress being a corrupt party would be strengthened'.

He pointed out to the Bofors scandal, which had led to former prime minister and Congress chief Rajiv Gandhi's downfall. The verdict was bound to affect the Congress' prospects during the forthcoming assembly elections in some states, Mathur said.

It is inevitable that the National Democratic Alliance constituents will try to buttonhole the Congress on the issue. Handling the fall-out of the Rao episode will be a test of Sonia Gandhi crisis management skills.

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