Anti-Rao camp sharpens knives, but sympathisers are many

OCT 14: A sharp divide has emerged in the Congress between those advocating a strident approach against P V Narasimha Rao and others calli...

OCT 14: A sharp divide has emerged in the Congress between those advocating a strident approach against P V Narasimha Rao and others calling for a show of solidarity.

The party had earlier stated that “it is committed to the rule of law and respected the verdict of the court.” The Congress holds the independence of the judiciary in esteem, party spokesman Ajit Jogi said, in what was a polite way of saying that Rao is on his own.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi had summoned an urgent meeting of senior party colleagues on Friday at her residence to discuss the political fallout of Rao’s conviction. The meeting was attended by Arjun Singh, Madhavrao Scindia, Motilal Vora — the three who were chargesheeted in the hawala case — and Pranab Mukherjee among others.

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Among those calling for a complete distancing from Rao, said party sources, are erstwhile Congress (Tiwari) leaders led by Arjun Singh who see in his conviction an opportunity to “extract their revenge.”

Some of them have even proposed that Rao and Buta Singh be expelled. This proposal was deferred after a lengthy discussion by party leaders who said that until a final verdict is given by courts in the matter, no decision could be taken.

When contacted, Jogi confirmed that a proposal to expel the convicted leaders was there. However, it was felt that until the final verdict of the Supreme Court, any action is neither desirable nor needed.

But there are some who worked with Rao who have advocated a more sympathetic approach. Among them are several leaders close to the present dispensation like Salman Khurshid, Jairam Ramesh, Kapil Sibal and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh.

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While Khurshid recalled Rao’s services to the country, Ramesh termed the conviction as “sad.” Sibal questioned the basis of the convicton and Digvijay Singh said `injustice had been done to Rao.”

The “hawkish” behaviour of the anti-Rao camp in the party has, however, not gone down well with several senior leaders and party MPs, who feel that by distancing itself from Rao, the party is only going to give the BJP an opportunity to go to town on the Congress’ “double standards.”

That Rao still has well-wishers is apparent from the large number of senior leaders and party MPs who queued up at his residence to offer him their moral support. These included Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Ahmed Patel, G Venkatswamy and Satish Sharma.