Scindia May Be Appointed Cong General Secretary

Madhavrao Scindia is likely to get a general secretary post in the new set of office-bearers likely to be appointed by Congress president Sitaram Kesri today, according to a Congress leader close to Kesri.

The MP leader, who only a fortnight ago was seen as a possible threat to vice-president Jitendra Prasada, or CPP leader in Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar, appears to have lost some ground within the party.

Though the change in Scindias clout in the party has been evident ever since he opened the batting for Congress in Lok Sabha special session last Monday, the reopening of the hawala case and the subsequent notices to politicians including Schindhia has appears to have really affected his prospect, say party insiders.

Party leaders point out that there were two opinions in the CPP meeting on what attitude the Congress should take in the special session of Parliament. While some felt that the occasion was not to speak on narrow party lines but to rise above them and draw the nations attention to some basic burning issues.

The other opinion in the CPP was that Congress should harp on the achievements of the successive Congress governments and attack political opponents to project Congress as the only party cabable of ruling the nation. This opinion was formed on the presumption that most parties would target the Congress Party for the failures of the last fifty years. Interestingly, while some say Kesri asked party leaders to take a offensive posture in their speeches, others say the party president never directed speakers to take a particular line. When the debate in the Lok Sabha was opened by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha last Monday, he rose above the party line to concentrate on pressing national and social issues. Scindia, who spoke after Vajpayee took an offensive posture patting the back of the party for the progress of the 50 years.

His detractors in the party blame him for provoking non-Congress parties to counter his claim and therefore blame the Congress for the failures of the past. In fact, no other Congress speaker followed the line set by Scindia in their speeches. From Pawar to Pranab Mukherjee, Manmohan Singh, P V Narasimha Rao, every single Congress leader concentrated on issues rather than speaking on party lines. According to a senior party leader, Kesri would retain most of the present office-bearers in the new team including the only vice-president Jitendra Prasada with whom differences are said to have arisen ever since the latter altered the official panel for CWC to include the name of Pawar.