Congress Headquarters Shifts To 10, Janpath

Sonia Gandhis residence is gradually becoming the nerve centre for coordinating the Congress, leaving party President Sitaram Kesri at the margins of planning and coordinating the partys programmes and projection during the election campaign.

Gandhis personal assistant, Vincent George, is the point man for party leaders. He not only passes on madams instructions and requests, he has emerged as one of the most powerful figures in the party in his own right. On Friday, he swung a party ticket for PC Chacko, who represented the party in both the tenth and eleventh houses.

Former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran had stood firmly against fielding Chacko and, according to one of Gandhis aides, even Kesri could not persuade him to relent. The aide says George telephoned Karunakaran and, without even invoking Gandhis name, said the ticket ought to be given to Chacko.

 

The aide claims this is the only nomination George influenced. Gandhi herself has kept out of the selection process although she has spoken her mind to Kesri. One of his confidants says Kesri apparently won a fresh lease for his presidency during a meeting with her a few weeks ago. Gandhi had earlier considered replacing him even before the campaign began.

Kesri, who had tried to keep Gandhi off centrestage at Calcutta and during the last weeks of the eleventh house, apparently threw in the towel during that meeting. He has become less central to decision-making since. By contrast, Georges tiny office at the 10, Janpath Gandhi residence is a beehive of activity as senior and wannabe party leaders seek his ear. In addition, two committees have been set up to coordinate the campaign. Former AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad chairs the committee that plans Gandhis tours and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Najma Heptulla chairs the committee to coordinate media coverage for Gandhis campaign.

Kesri had appointed a campaign committee under Pranab Mukherjee and an array of party spokespersons, led by VN Gadgil, but Gandhi apparently preferred Azad and Heptulla to Mukherjee and Gadgil.

Azad is frequently at the Janpath residence, assisted by Ambika Soni and Vishwajit Prithvijit Singh, to plan Gandhis tour programmes. They have tremendous clout, since they process the requests of Congress candidates across the country for a speech by Gandhi in their constituencies.

Heptulla is being assisted by media professionals like public relations man Rajiv Desai and former journalist Udayan Sharma. Media requests for interviews with Gandhi, which have been pouring in at Janpath, are being passed Heptulla to reply to.

Both Azad and Heptulla have reason to resent Kesri. Last summer, the party chief had eased Azad out of his earlier job as AICC general secretary. Azad was not included in Kesris list of those he wanted elected to the Congress Working Committee at the Calcutta plenary last August.

Heptulla had been all set to contest as the Congress nominee to become the Vice-president of India last summer, when Kesri suddenly announced his backing for the United Fronts nominee, S Krishna Kant.

The choice of these two leaders also indicates that Gandhi favours the axis of leaders who managed to defeat some of Kesris panel of nominees during the CWC elections in Calcutta. Party vice-president Jitendra Prasada and Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar were part of this axis.

Prasada, Pawar and Rajesh Pilot had made a pact before the election of party president last summer. Under it, Pawar and Pilot, who were challenging Kesri, would have withdrawn in favour of Prasada. However, the plan was aborted, reportedly after Gandhi instructed Prasada to let Kesri become the president.

Gandhis aides and others with access to her insist that she composes her own speeches, albeit with inputs from a wide variety of Congress leaders. These range from Arjun Singh and ML Fotedar to Sheila Dixit.

Daughter Priyanka has given Gandhi moral support, often receiving her at Palam airport with a warm hug and eager questions about how a public meeting went - when she hasnt accompanied Gandhi to the meeting.

According to one aide, it was her children who urged Gandhi to take an aggressive stance on the Bofors issue, arguing that their fathers reputation should be cleared at the earliest.