Congress lends a hand to a 'hurt' PM

Digvijaya 'firm' on remarks; will abide by party discipline

Congress leader and General Secretary Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday stood by his remarks which had been contested by party spokesman Janardan Dwivedi yesterday on the power centre issue, but failed to convince party members.

"I stand by my remarks. I will abide by party discipline, but I still think that the party's power centre model needs to be revisited," Singh said.

On March 27, Digvijaya had said, "I feel this model hasn't worked very well. There should not be two power centres. I think whoever is the PM must have the authority to function."

On the same day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was returning to the capital after attending the 5th BRICS Summit

at Durban, had implied that he would not be averse to a third term.

Apparently, party president Sonia Gandhi had quickly picked up the prime minister's sense of hurt. Gandhi departed for the US with daughter Priyanka two days ago for a medical check up. But before she left, she made her displeasure known over remarks that undermined the authority of the prime minister.

Yesterday, Janardhan Dwivedi had rejected Digvijaya Singh's statement. "The relationship which exists between the Congress president and the prime minister on Wednesday is unique and something never been seen before and, perhaps, this should be the ideal model for future as well," he had said.

Most Congress members agree with the party president's view.

"The message that had gone out through Digvijaya Singh's statement was wrong and had to be corrected," say Congress sources. "It was imperative that the Opposition should not be handed out further ammunition to attack the Congress with. The Bharatiya Janata Party has always been accusing us of dual power centres and when a leader with the stature of Digvijaya Singh says so, it erodes the achievements of the nine-year-old Congress-led UPA rule," adds another Congress leader.

A senior Congress minister said: "We are happy with the present structure, as the party president is taking care of the organisation and the PM is focusing on governance. The prime minister's job nowadays has become more demanding and it is not possible to do justice to both roles. The model has been working well."

Congress leaders say they are happy with either model: Rahul Gandhi as PM with Sonia Gandhi at the helm of the party; or Manmohan Singh in command, with Rahul Gandhi as head of party. "Even Obama would not be able to manage in this day and age if he was heading the Democratic party as well as running the United States," a Congressman said.

However, Congressmen say the last word on this subject hasn't been spoken yet. They also say that this is an exchange between two groups in the Congress.

One favours a more aggressive role by Rahul Gandhi in government, while the other believes he would be better off handling the party. The clash between these two interests is palpable and is likely to become even sharper as general elections approach.