Sonia Is Our Choice For Pm: Kesri

Congress president Sitaram Kesri yesterday threw an open challenge to the BJP and the United Front, saying Sonia Gandhi was the Congress candidate for prime minister and would defeat their candidates in case of a direct contest.

Addressing a mammoth rally here, Sonia Gandhis first in Calcutta, Kesri made it clear that he was ready to play second fiddle in the power stakes within the party. He said he was ready to go to the EC with the other parties and seek a direct election to the prime ministers post. He said BJP prime ministerial candidate Vajpayee would be no match for Sonia.

This is not the word of Sitaram Kesri. It is the word of the Congress president, Kesri said, underlining the serious intent behind projecting Sonia as the prime minister. It is our leader against yours, he said.

Kesri, who arrived early, waited patiently on the dais for Sonia to arrive and was quite happy playing second fiddle all through the meeting. When Sonia arrived at 4.30 pm, three hours behind schedule, Kesri descended from the dais to receive her.

In his address, Kesri repeatedly made the point that he had requested Sonia to come and lead the Congress, since he was getting old. The Congress has got a new life with Soniajis presence. It will now move forward, he said, amid applause. I feel much more powerful now, he added.

Kesri said the Congress could not be held responsible for the fall of the government. It is because of the Congress support that the UF government lasted this long.

He also said he was a freedom fighter and a simple rural man, and not an intellectual, in a reference to I K Gujral, who he said was projected as an intellectual of the India International Centre.

The octogenarian Kesri also took pot-shots at West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, who has lately been talking about his readiness to accept the job of prime minister if offered.

Jyotibabu is a few years older to me but has suddenly developed prime ministerial ambitions, he said, as Sonia and son Rahul smiled.

Kesri also attacked the Left for aligning with BJP earlier, in supporting the V P Singh government in 1989. In this very ground, Jyoti Basu and Vajpayee shared the same platform then, he said, pointing out that anti-Congressism was the main issue of the other parties, since Gujral had even taken Akali support to contest the elections.

On several occasions, Kesri watched as the crowds lustily cheered Sonia and Rahul and chanted Sonia Gandhi zindabad. The Bengal Congress candidates also went to seek Sonias blessings on the dais, while Kesri looked on. Kesris arrival was quiet, while Sonias, in stark contrast, was marked by hysterical cheers from the three-lakh plus crowd which filled the huge Brigade Parade ground, the hub of Calcutta, to the brim.