`Loyal’ Congmen go into hiding as rebel visits Jaipur

Sharma told mediapersons afterwards that Prasad was an old friend and it was only a courtesy visit. As he was contesting the election, he had come to visit him. Otherwise, he would have gone to look him up.

However, Prasad kept up his offensive against the dominant faction by demanding that it share the A.K. Antony Committee report with workers, whilestate party president Vyas took pains to reaffirm the loyalty of the “entire” state unit to Sonia. The committee, headed by former Kerala chief minister A.K. Antony, went in to the causes which led to the party debacle in the last Lok Sabha elections. Prasad told mediapersons that some portions of the report had been made available only to the members of the Congress Working Committee. It was high time the workers became aware of them and drew necessary lessons from them.

He said the Congress’ score of 112 seats during the last Lok Sabha electionswas the lowest since independence. Its social base stood eroded. Having been associated with Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao and Sonia Gandhi, he had seen the Congress deteriorate day by day. Therefore, he felt that the party needed some changes to retrieve the ground it had lost.

He had made certain suggestions to the leadership in writing. He said if he had been told that he was weakening the organisation, he would have retracted from this. Since he had received no response from the leadership, he felt he was called upon to take the issue directly to workers. His decision to contest the presidency was proof of inner democracy in the Congress and he was proud of it.

Regarding his prospects, Prasad claimed that he was sure to win if people heard the call of their conscience. The rank and file had done it in the past as demonstrated by the election of Subhash Chandra Bose against Mahatma Gandhi’s wishes and later by the victory of Purushottam Dass Tandon against J.B. Kriplani, who was backed by Jawaharlal Nehru. Asked where he placed himself while being pitted against Sonia, he said, “Well, we are both candidates,” adding they tried hard to draw him out on the composition of the “coterie”, which, according to him, had surrounded the leadership. “I am not here to level a charge-sheet against anybody,” he said.

Meanwhile, Vyas said the Rajasthan Congress stood solidly behind Sonia, who had assumed presidentship of the party only after party leaders pleaded with her to come to its rescue in keeping with the high traditions of her family. She added that the talk of a coterie around her was humbug and she took her own decisions after extensive consultations.