Commentary/Rajiv Shukla

Too little, too late: Deve Gowda's belated attempt to woo Sitaram Kesri

There was a time, not so long ago, when Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda did not seem at all bothered about Sitraram Kesri's growing influence over the affairs of the Congress party. Deve Gowda did not even meet Kesri till 15 days after the latter became Congress president, choosing to congratulate him over the phone, instead.

But now, all that has changed most dramatically. These days, Deve Gowda lands up at Kesri's, often without a prior appointment, to seek the Congress chief's advice on every single matter. In a somewhat belated bid to appease Kesri, Deve Gowda has stopped meeting former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao. Also, breakfast at Deve Gowda's has become quite common for Congress leaders like Sharad Pawar and G Venkataswamy.

Obviously paranoid over the fact that the Congress might withdraw support to the United Front government before the Budget session, the prime minister has deputed several senior leaders in his ranks, like Chand Mahal Ibrahim, Ram Vilas Paswan, Sharad Yadav, Harkishen Singh Surjeet and Mulayam Singh Yadav, to persuade Kesri not to withdraw support at this crucial juncture.

The fact that Kesri is practically holding the United Front government to ransom became evident last fortnight when the prime minister stopped his finance ministry from hiking petrol, diesel and kerosene prices. Apparently, Deve Gowda had been told that the moment his government announced the 15 to 20 per cent hike, Kesri would raise a ruckus over the issue and could even use it as a peg to withdraw Congress support. This prompted the prime minister to defer the announcement of the price hike -- less steeper than the one earlier announced -- till mid-February, just before the Budget session gets underway.

Deve Gowda's desperate bid to woo Sitaram Kesri seem to have worked, at least for the moment. By the look of things, the Congress president is more keen on consolidating his party's position in the Lok Sabha than on toppling Deve Gowda's government before the presentment of the Union Budget.

The equation is simple: the Congress needs to touch the magic figure of 165 -- one more than the BJP's present strength -- in order to stake its claim as the single-largest party in Parliament. For that, Kesri has targeted G K Moopanar and his Tamil Maanila Congress.

Former Kerala chief minister K. Karunakaran has been entrusted with the task of bring back Moopanar to the Congress fold. Kesri is also said to be using the good offices of 10, Janpath to persuade Moopanar. It is understood that the TMC chief is keen to return to the Congress as president of the party. This is proving to be a stumbling block as Kesri has agreed to give Moopanar the post of working president, with himself remaining at the helm of party affairs.

While Moopanar's return looks a distinct possibility, another star defector, Palaniappan Chidambaram, is reluctant to rejoin the Congress for the simple reason that if and when the Congress does form the government, Manmohan Singh would be Kesri's first choice as finance minister.

While planning portfolios for the next government may seem a trifle premature, the fact remains that the minute the Congress emerges the single-largest party in the Lok Sabha, Kesri will pull the rug from under Deve Gowda's feet. This despite the United Front's best efforts to keep the Congress president happy.

Of late, the PM's aides are even trying to convince Kesri that he is the right man to become the next President of India. But this ploy will not get Deve Gowda and his men anywhere because Kesri would rather move into 7, Race Course Road than Rashtrapati Bhavan.