Cong props up Chavan against Pawar

Within weeks, his protege and close aide Vijay Kalantri, president of the All India Industries Association with overt political leanings, was appointed PCC treasurer. A move that did not go down very well with partyoffice-bearers since Kalantri was, and still is, seen to be too much of a businessman to be holding an important post in the Congress.

Insiders say Chavan pushed Kalantri’s case with AICC general secretary for Maharashtra Madhavrao Scindia and later with Suresh Kalmadi, who re-joined the Congress on Pawar’s exit. Scindia was engaged in damage-control as Pawar and his brigade wooed MLAs to split the Congress down the middle. Chavan’s word carried weight in Pawar’s absence and Kalantri’s long-standing relationship with Chavan paid off for him.

His reentry into the Congress’ scheme of things came to a head two weeks back, when Chavan went on the offensive against Pawar for the latter’s alleged involvement in the 1988 Aurangabad riots. With this, he took his role as Pawar-baiter more seriously than most of his partymen believed he would. That he was the chief minister during the riots underlined his authority to make the accusation, many say.

However, Chavan’s rise is not a happy occasion for all. SeniorCongress leader Arjun Singh, for instance, worried about its impact on Muslim vote that he has been able to consolidate towards the Congress to a large extent. Chavan, along with former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, are still viewed by the community as principal offenders with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992 – an issue they raised with Singh during his visits here.

Rao, by virtue of his age, health and political predilection, has been successfully sidelined in the party. Chavan too was in the backroom for many months but his reemergence had its impact on Muslim vote. "His credibility as an individual may be all right but it’s not great where Muslims are concerned or where Pawar is concerned," says a senior Congress leader.Meanwhile, the Congress is getting into the election mode with the PCC scheduled to hold its first series of Parliamentary board meetings for three days beginning on Sunday to decide on candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha and StateAssembly elections. AICC leader P J Kurien is expected at these meetings as an observer.

Simultaneously, three senior leaders have begun the final round of discussions with Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the two factions of Republican Party of India (RPI) that chose not to tie-up with Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). These discussions will also continue in the next few days since Saturday’s meeting did not conclude with any concrete understanding over the number of seats to be shared between the Congress and these parties.

RPI’s Prakash Ambedkar and R S Gavai were both engaged in Saturday’s discussions. There will be an understanding but it’s more important to discuss the exact number of seats and this negotiation is taking time, said party sources. The RPI led by Ramdas Athawale had entered into an alliance with the NCP earlier this month and had later "sacked" Ambedkar, Gavai and Jogendra Kawade for going against the majority opinion in the party. Both Ambedkar and Athawale hadmet Congress president Sonia Gandhi several times in early July for possible tie-ups. Among the key constituencies to be discussed at the parliamentary board meetings is the high-prestige Baramati, Pawar’s personal fiefdom. Congress leaders and friends-turned-foes of Pawar were sent by the party for a constituency report earlier this week. Reports are that finding a suitable candidate to fight Pawar may not be easy considering there are very few in Baramati, or Pune region for that matter, who will want to incur Pawar’s wrath.