Cong Steering Panel Divided On Support To Rabri

The Congress steering committee was sharply divided yesterday on whether the party should support Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi when she seeks the confidence of the Bihar assembly today. The committee could not take a decision.

The meeting was then officially labelled informal and Congress president Sitaram Kesri instructed party vice-president Jitendra Prasada and AICC general secretary RK Dhawan to decide after talking to the PCC president and the CLP leader.

Kesri appears to be working quietly towards an electoral alliance with Yadavs party.

A number of Kesri loyalists suggested at the meeting that the party should support Rabri Devi in the assembly, arguing that the Congress could not vote with the BJP

But former finance minister Manmohan Singh, K Vijay Bhaskara Reddy, Rajesh Pilot and Ahmed Patel countered this, focusing on propriety and probity.

Reddy said the committee had backed Kesris move to bail out Yadavs government when he recently sought a vote of confidence, but could not do so again.

Some party leaders speculated that Reddy was perhaps upset with Kesri after the nomination of Andhra Governor Krishna Kant as the joint UF-Congress candidate for the post of vice-president. Patel too is said to be upset with Kesri over his decision to back Krishna Kant.

Pilot said the fodder scam was not just a Bihar issue but had acquired a national significance. The party could not be seen to be supporting Yadav in this context. He added that democracy had been made a joke in Bihar with the inducation of Yadavs wife in his place.

The meeting was called suddenly and Sharad Pawar, who was in Maharashtra, could not attend. Kesri attacked him at the meeting, saying that Pawar had spoken to Prime Minister IK Gujral about backing Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Najma Heptulla to be the joint candidate for vice-president.

According to a member, Kesri held that this was indiscipline since the committee had earlier authorised the party president to talk to UF leaders. No other party leader should thereafter have spoken to the UF on the subject.

Kesris decision to back Krishna Kant has caused resentment among some party leaders, specially since Kant had opposed Indira Gandhi during the Emergency.

Sonia Gandhi was upset at the decision, according to one committee member.