BJP designs may force Kesri to call CPP meet

NEW DELHI, Nov 4: Congress president Sitaram Kesri may call a full meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) before the winter sess...

NEW DELHI, Nov 4: Congress president Sitaram Kesri may call a full meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) before the winter session of Parliament, beginning November 19, in light of the campaign launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to split the Congress at the Centre.

Normally a meeting of the CPP executive is held to thrash out the party’s strategy in a particular session, but this time after the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) split in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress high command is keen to hold its flock together in Parliament and prevent a possible crisis on a large scale.

“Whatever we do will be after we take the CPP and its executive into confidence. A meeting will be held soon,” Kesri’s confidant and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Tariq Anwar said. With rumours doing the rounds with a vengeance in the Capital, that the BJP is set to strike at the CPP, the Congress is seriously considering the unusual step of a full CPP meeting.

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A final decision on this depends on the outcome of Kesri’s ongoing discussions with several party MPs.

Even today the city was rife with speculation that Kesri’s hold is weakening over the CPP, especially after BJP vice-president KL Sharma said in a press conference that a split of the CPP in favour of the BJP is not ruled out.

The Congress president and his followers were, however, confident of this not happening and said it was the usual Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-BJP rumour mill at work.

“They said this before the Deve Gowda Government fell. And they are saying it again. Nothing of this sort will happen,” added Anwar. But the Congress is not taking any chance.

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Through the day, Kesri held consultations with party leaders including MPs, while Anwar had an important meeting with former Union Minister of State for Home Subodh Kant Sahay at his Lodhi Estate residence.

Sahay is a confidant of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar who was reported in a section of the Press as preparing to head a breakaway faction of the Congress and make a bid for Prime Ministership again. Shekhar has since denied this twice, but Sahay was nevertheless sent across to sound out Anwar. In effect, the number two’s in the Kesri and Shekhar camps respectively spoke in detail of the rumours going around.

Anwar said nothing on what transpired between the two. Elsewhere, Kesri was also holding meetings with representatives of Congress factions opposed to him. He held a 20-minute meeting with party MP AR Antulay, who was the chief spokesperson for Sharad Pawar in his contest against Kesri for the party president’s post.

Soon after this, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and another MP, Madhavrao Scindia, too arrived for a separate 30-minute meeting with Kesri. Rajya Sabha MP and the new Seva Dal chairman Suresh Pachouri landed up for his share of time with the Congress head. All meetings were to discuss the possibility, and to prevent, a split in the CPP.

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Yesterday, Kesri held a long meeting with another Rajya Sabha MP Matang Singh who was a Union Minister under PV Narasimha Rao. Singh has been close to Rao and this meeting was to ascertain the mood in the Rao camp, however small it may be.

Relations between Kesri and Rao deteriorated swiftly after Rao quit Congress presidency following his being listed as an accused in three cases. Yesterday’s meeting between Kesri and Singh was, therefore, the first such after a long time.

But this move doesn’t appear to have resulted in much. Today, in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) case, Kesri’s name was also dragged in by the approver Shailendra Mahato who told the court that Kesri knew of the bribe given to them allegedly by Rao. The Kesri camp feels this is an attempt by the Rao camp to drag the current Congress president into court and add to his woes.