Ticket-seekers desert Kesri

Kesri appears to have reconciled himself to the changed situation. The man in a hurry, as Deve Gowda described him a few months ago, remains indoors, hardly bothering to step out to greet a few hangers-on who still swear by him. Inquiries in the party’s Akbar Road headquarters reveal that Kesri’s regular visits there till last fortnight have now become a rarity. Even when he comes, it’s for a few minutes. Like he did yesterday to announce denial of ticket to P V Narasimha Rao.

A CWC member sums up the situation: “As anybody can see, the battle is Sonia versus Vajpayee. Kesriji has little option but to stay away.” Most of the CWC members have steered clear of him. Barring Pranab Mukherjee, it is learnt, not many have visited him at his house in the past one week. Not even R K Dhawan, whose candidature was cleared by Kesri much before he released the first official list of nominees. Also, many CWC members are upset with Kesri over his denying the ticket to Rao. Five CWC members – including Manmohan Singh and A K Antony – visted Rao to tell him that they tried to oppose Kesri’s move.