Arjun’s ride to glory on Jain bandwagon

His party may not be too sure, but Arjun says he has made up his mind about going to the people with the issue. No doubt, this is with the knowledge that he is better placed as compared to most of his partymen on the election front. Congressmen in Madhya Pradesh, in fact, want him to be at the forefront in case of elections. Arjun, incidentally, dismisses this as mere speculation.

He is more forthcoming on his pet subject, the Gandhi family, especially Sonia. “There is no need for anyone to pressurise her to lead the party in any way. She is a responsible member of the party and will make her own decision at the right time,” he says.

Observers believe that since he is perceived as being close to 10 Janpath, he is most likely to be Sonia’s main adviser in case she decides to take the plunge.

Already, the Congress leader has left all party colleagues, including Sitaram Kesri, behind in jumping onto the Jain Commission report bandwagon. The former Union minister has not only addressed a press conference on the issue but also written two letters, one to Kesri and the other to Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta. Kesri, obviously, was not amused, particularly as the letter addressed to him politely told him that he had goofed up in taking a soft stand towards the UF Government. The peeved Congress chief complained later at a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting that Singh could have told him this directly rather than writing a letter “as I’m always available”. Arjun’s confidence must also be rankling MP Chief Minister Digvijay Singh. The former has teamed up with Madhavrao Scindia to keep Digvijay in check and replaced the Chief Minister as the most acceptable Congress leader in the State. Now, Digvijay is running pillar to post to mend fences with the “Bade Thakur”.

Incidentally, the Chief Minister’s closest ally, Kamal Nath, is also keen on elections, since he is right now neither in Parliament nor the CWC.