Three heavyweights challenge Kesri in party election

George Iype in New Delhi

Congress chief Sitaram Kesri's desire to face an unopposed election for the post of the All India Congress Committee president may go haywire as three top rival Congress leaders plan to contest the forthcoming organisational poll.

Kesri has fixed July 11 as the date of the election, bypassing the Election Commission's strictures of completing the party's organisational polls by May 31.

But Sharad Pawar and A R Antulay, both former chief ministers of Maharashtra and Rajesh Pilot, Kesri's staunch critic in the party, have decided to run for the post in an attempt to oust the octogenarian leader.

Antulay and Pilot told Rediff On The NeT that they are determined to fight Kesri in the organisational poll. "I will surely be a candidate for the party president's post as I feel the Congress has been on the sick bed ever since Kesri took up the job," said Antulay.

Accusing Kesri of "trampling upon the party constitution to ensure his continuance," Antulay said he fears the party chief and his supporters might once again try to postpone the poll schedule on "petty reasons." Antulay has, thus, written to the Chief Election Commissioner that organisational polls scheduled by the EC on May 31 should be mandatory for the Congress for it to remain as a recognised national party in the Commission's register.

Openly stating that he is a candidate for the Congress president's post, Antulay has told the Commission that he has a personal stake "in the purity, objectivity and impartiality of the Congress elections."

Antulay's decision has upset the Congress chieftain's supporters who fear it would help the anti-Kesri forces in the party to join hands in supporting Antulay.

Similarly, Pilot, a Congress Working Committee member, said that his plan to contest the election stems from his conviction that the party's leadership should be in younger hands.

"This is a decisive phase in Congress history because grassroot party workers feel the party is now rudderless," he said. He also added that his intention to fight the election will be appreciated by the people.

Pilot is peeved with Kesri for not consulting the CWC before making a decision to postpone the party's organisational polls to July 11. Last year, Pilot displayed serious objections when Kesri succeeded P V Narasimha Rao as Congress president and the party's leader in Parliament.

He is also furious with Kesri for pampering Sharad Pawar. In an effort to put him in good humour, Kesri had made Pawar the party's floor leader in Lok Sabha and lined him up to negotiate with the United Front partners after the Congress withdrew support to the H D Deve Gowda government on March 30.

However, Pawar's proximity to Kesri have not deterred him from contesting against the party chief. His aides said the Maharashtra leader has began meeting the 800 plus AICC members in an effort to garner support.

Pawar's confidant, Lok Sabha MP P C Chacko, told Rediff On The NeT that there is nothing wrong in other Congress leaders contesting the party election. "We want the next Congress president to be elected democratically, therefore it will be healthy if there is a genuine contest," he stated.

He said it is too early to say if Pawar will be in the fray or not. "But if need be, Pawar will definitely contest," Chacko added.

With three Congress heavyweights throwing in their hats against Kesri, it is unlikely that Kesri will have a smooth run in the organisational poll.

His detractors are sure that Kesri will not reschedule the poll as it would violate the EC's rules. As per the Congress constitution, six months after the appointment of a provisional president, an AICC session has to be convened to elect a new president. By July 11, Kesri would have completed 10 months as provisional Congress president.