NEW DELHI, June 10: Problems seem to be mounting for Sharad Pawar in the Congress as more of his aides are avoiding confrontation for the sake of consensus in the organisation.The latest to do so is P R Das Munshi, an ardent Pawar supporter who today said ``in the interests of the party'', he would work along with his rival Somen Mitra, who was re-elected as West Bengal Pradesh Congress Commitee (PCC) president yesterday. Mitra managed this coup of sorts in a state unit riven with intense factionalism. Munshi was Pawar's man in Bengal but with this backtracking today, the Congress Lok Sabha leader has had another setback.Coming after the embarrassment in Mumbai where Gurudas Kamat beat a hasty retreat in the face of Murli Deora's election as Mumbai PCC chief, it gives Pawar something to think about. The headache for Pawar is a familiar one : how to convince traditional Congressmen that he means business this time after several flip-flops in the past.Pawar's aide P C Chacko put on a brave face again today as he insisted that Pawar was done in by the ``heavy rigging and manipulation'' carried out by Sitaram Kesri. Already at least one statement, of unclear origin, has been issued calling for Pawar's ouster as Lok Sabha party leader. This statement was said to be issued by CPP secretary Mrutyunjay Nayak who was not available for comment.Chacko, however, said if there was a move to oust Pawar, his group would fight to the end. ``If that is the case, we will take it to the logical conclusion,'' he said on the issue. Interestingly, Kesri has stopped saying that Pawar would not be sacked as party leader in the Lok Sabha. Before the June 9 voting for the Congress president took place, Kesri said at least twice on record that he would not remove Pawar as he believed in working together.Now Kesri says he will tackle the issue after being declared party president. This is a subtle shift in stance akin to the ones Kesri made while dealing with his predecessor P V Narasimha Rao. Kesri was all obedience initially with Rao before he dumped Rao in a manner not seen before in the Congress.There is speculation that Pawar could meet with the same fate.
