NEW DELHI, January 10: In what is the first major fallout of Sonia Gandhi's moves towards joining the Congress to enter mainstream politics with poll '98, former union minister B P Maurya resigned from the party's primary membership.In another significant development, long time Congress man Kalpnath Rai announced his decision to join the Samata Party. Severing his 30-year-long association with the Congress, Maurya claimed the party would suffer "irreparable damage" by handing over its reins to Sonia Gandhi. Referring to her Italian origin, he said Sonia's entry into politics would "create a situation where India will come under foreign influence. It may even hamper the sovereignty of the nation."Meanwhile, though Maurya is also cut up with Congress president Sitaram Kesri and cites differences between them as one of the reasons for quitting the organisation, Maurya does not appear too unsure about which way to go now."My supporters are talking both with the BJP and Mulayam Singh Yadav. Depending on the feedback I receive from them, I will choose my next course of action," was his cautious reply to a query.Kalpnath Rai, who joined George Fernandes' Samata Party, described the move as a return to the socialist fold.At a function held at his Delhi home, Rai said the decision would rejuvenate him: four months in prison before the Supreme Court cleared him of TADA charges had left him a "broken man". He promised to take UP by storm. "Within six months Samata would become the most powerful force in UP," he said while predicting that the party would form governments both in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.For starters, Kalpnath Rai is organising a rally for the Samata Party in Mhow (Madhya Pradesh) this month. His new party has promised to field him from his old constituency, Ghosi.Congress spokesman V N Gadgil today refuted the suggestion - reportedly made by the CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet in Chandigarh recently - that the party was contemplating a post-election alliance with the United Front. The statement, held Gadgil, "is uncalled for, confusing and too premature"."The Congress alliances," clarified Gadgil, "were at the State level and also with those parties which were outside the United Front. In fact, we are fighting a fierce battle with the CPI-M and other constituents of the Front in various States."
