ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Sonia upset as Pawar seeks to install his man as MPCC chief

Senior Congress leader Sharad Pawar's efforts to prop up his own man to head the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee have angered the Sonia Gandhi camp, party sources said.

Ranjit Deshmukh recently resigned as the MPCC chief owning moral responsibility for the defeat of party candidate R D Pradhan in the Rajya Sabha elections.

Sonia is already upset about Pradhan's defeat. Sources said Pawar's latest moves have added ''fuel to the fire''.

But the Maratha strongman is unfazed, and is keen to prove a point or two by ensuring that his man gets to the PCC helm. For this, he will not hesitate to play the Maratha card, and may urge fellow regional lords to join forces for the "common cause".

Pawar's new-found zeal, sources say, comes from the realisation that some big-time Congress leaders are not happy that 10 legislators were taken to task for the shock defeat of Pradhan. Sonia had initiated action against the legislators, apparently on the advice of Pawar baiters.

It is also said that Pawar has not taken lightly to the recent whispering campaign by known Sonia toadies against him. The message sought to be spread was that Pawar's position as the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha cannot be taken for granted and that Sonia would be monitoring it carefully. And, if need be, she will act.

Madhavrao Scindia, the Congress general secretary in charge of Maharashtra, appears enmeshed in the Sonia-Pawar face-off. Scindia, sources say, stands to gain the mantle of top Maratha leader in the event of Pawar getting eclipsed.

Tell us what you think of this report