Nettled Cong stalls for time

The CWC meeting itself was called after a fair amount of deliberations between Kesri and his CWC colleagues. The problem began with Gujral’s missive in the evening indicating that the United Front Government was unwilling to part ways with the DMK.

After receiving Gujral’s response at around seven this evening, Kesri held discussions with senior colleagues and sought opinions on how to proceed.Within the party, there are distinct differences of opinion, with a section of party MPs, mainly first-timers, meeting in the Parliament Annexe today to voice their opinion that the Lok Sabha should not be dissolved. Twenty Congress MPs were among the 54 MPs who called on President K R Narayanan, requesting him not to dissolve the House, a move about which Kesri was informed by Andhra Pradesh MP Subbirami Reddy.

After Gujral’s secretary Vikram Misry delivered the PM’s three-point reply, Kesri began talking to CWC members. Tariq Anwar was the first to arrive and left after 30 minutes. Kesri was apparently taken aback by the shrewd wording of Gujral’s response and needed advice on how to skirt the issues raised by the UF. Gujral’s letter has four basic facets: it praises Rajiv Gandhi, talks of the looming communal threat to the country’s fabric, refuses to heed the Congress demand to dump the DMK and says the cases regarding Rajiv’s assassination are pending in courts. As a parting shot, it adds that it is “imprudent” to single out any political, social or ethnic outfit on the issue.

Gujral’s response begins with Kesri’s letter, stating, “the whole country and all of us are very concerned at the assassination of the young and dynamic leader of the country, Shri Rajiv Gandhi. The matter is pending in court.”

It then goes on to speak of the need to check communal forces, saying, “The threat to the country’s secular fabric from communal forces still looms large. Since both of us are concerned about this, we are prepared to discuss this issue. However, we think it is imprudent to target any political, social or ethnic group or community as is being done”.

Since Gujral has left the door open for consultations citing communal forces, the CWC will need to react to this. Senior Congressmen, on the condition of anonymity, said that Congress credentials against communalism were never in any doubt and that Kesri will state as much.The third point, however, is the most thorny issue, stating: “The United Front is united in agreeing no to drop any of its constituents from the Front.” Kesri is expected to take note of this and not budge from the previous stand of the party. Earlier in the day, the Congress firmly rebutted charges that it had disrupted proceedings in Parliament to the point where the Lok Sabha had to be adjourned sine die.

In a CPP statement read out by the Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Sharad Pawar, the party said: “The present impasse was created because of the motivated reluctance of the Government to respond to the demand of the Congress. The Congress said that unless the issue (of ousting the DMK from the Union Ministry) is resolved, it cannot participate in any parliamentary business. Every business of the House is related to Government and Government must prove its majority beyond doubt.”

In a statement made during the afternoon, Kesri had also dealt with the main criticism of the Jain report — and the Congress position on it — saying: “The Congress has noted the unfortunate phrasing of the sentence in the Jain report which refers to the `nexus of LTTE with Tamils of Tamil Nadu.’