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Congress attempts patch-up with Rebellious Three

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The Congress Wednesday unfurled clandestine moves to effect a patch-up with rebels Sharad Pawar, P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar.

Top party functionaries told Rediff On The NeT that several leaders have been pressed into service to persuade the three to sink their differences and return. The emissaries would point out that party chief Sonia Gandhi had already submitted her resignation and colleagues were trying for a compromise.

The functionaries said they could not yet reveal the names of the leaders involved in this effort because success depended on secrecy. They claimed telephone calls were being made to Pawar and Sangma, both of whom were not in Delhi.

The task of bringing back the three, however, is very delicate considering that Pawar and Anwar have hardened their stance.

Pawar's supporters in Maharashtra, especially Bombay, have been egging him on to tackle the challenge thrown by Gandhi. The Maratha strongman is being reminded that it is high-time that he avenge the insults that Gandhi had heaped on him.

Pawar had earlier told a television channel that he felt slighted when Gandhi, after initially agreeing to his dialogue with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalitha, entrusted the responsibility to another. He has also been complaining that the party high command under Gandhi's dispensation tried to minimise his role in the Lok Sabha as the leader of Opposition. He is also said to be furious over the way Gandhi's followers trampled his posters, beating them with shoes and slippers, and burning his effigies in the wake of his revolt.

Which, sources said, is why he has hardened his stance, reiterating that he would go to the people to settle the issue.

Pawar has contacted Opposition leaders including former prime minister Chandra Shekhar, Mulayam Singh Yadav and several senior Communist functionaries in an apparent attempt to form a new secular front. Against this backdrop, the patch-up bid seems a remote possibility.

Anwar, for his part, has almost made up his mind to quit the Congress as Gandhi's supporters are clamouring for his head. He is widely regarded in party circles as the most lightweight among the three. His proximity to former Congress chief Sitaram Kesri has also made him a special target for Gandhi's supporters. Many Congressmen hold Kesri responsible for Anwar's forming the rebellious troika.

The possibility of Anwar's joining the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Laloo Prasad Yadav has gained ground since Kesri interceded with the RJD chief on his protégé's behalf. It is understood that when the crunch comes, Anwar, thanks to his mentor, will cross over to the RJD and fight the Lok Sabha poll from Bihar's Katihar constituency.

Meanwhile, the political spotlight has swung back to Gandhi as she would be addressing Youth Congress workers on May 21. She is expected to speak on the future of the Congress in the next millennium. Political observers feel she would hint at her future strategy in the speech.

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