The 140 Congress MPs, led by Rao, hold the key to the Gowda government's stability and speculation was rife again on the very day when Gowda's election to Parliament had become a certainty: No one else filed a nomination for the Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka..
There was a rumour, floated by an eveninger, that Rao might not remain free much longer. Congress leaders opposed to Rao were busy drafting calls for him to step down from the party presidentship. However, a senior official revealed that there were clear directions to the CBI not to be overenthusiastic in cases personally relating to Rao and Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad Yadav.
The official maintained that if Rao were to be proceeded against in one of the four criminal cases in which he has been named, it would only be because of a directive from a court.
As the noose tightens round former Congress ministers such as Sukh Ram, Deve Gowda publicly ruled out any change in the previous government's foreign investment policy, domestic investment policy, industrial policy, trade and commerce policies. Rao has said his party would only withdraw its support if the Gowda government did a U-turn on the Congress government's policies.
Despite recent assurances from the government, tension was palpable in the Congress. Rao loyalists and dissidents waited with equal anxiety for the next hearings of the Lakhubhai Pathak cheating case and the JMM bribing case, both slated for Saturday.
A Congress leader close to Rao said he had told a meeting of the party's election committee that he would challenge any adverse court order in an appeal court.
Rao has managed to ensure that Sukh Ram uses his interrogation to further Rao's politics. There was talk of the possibility of Sukh Ram naming party treasurer Sitaram Kesri, whom the Pawar group in the party would like to back as Rao's successor.
During yesterday's interrogation, Sukh Ram did not name the Congress leader who had allegedly given him the money for safe keeping.
