Sonia back in command

NEW DELHI, MAY 24: The week-long drama outside 10 Janpath climaxed tonight with Sonia Gandhi agreeing to continue as Congress president. ...

NEW DELHI, MAY 24: The week-long drama outside 10 Janpath climaxed tonight with Sonia Gandhi agreeing to continue as Congress president. The announcement on the eve on the AICC session convened specially to pressure her into withdrawing her resignation is seen as a strategic move to kick off an emotional campaign for the coming elections.

8220;She will convey her message to the people from the forum of the AICC, confirmed senior leader Pranab Mukherjee who announced Sonia8217;s decision after a CWC resolution urged her once again to withdraw her resignation.Her decision crowned frenetic efforts by CWC members through the day to contain the restiveness and anger among the rank and file against the Working Committee which is being blamed for not defending her when the dissidents questioned her right to be Prime Minister. A delegation of AICC office-bearers had met her in the afternoon to warn her that tomorrow8217;s session could be marred by a repeat of Thursday8217;s mob violence outside the Congress headquarters in whichseveral senior leaders were assaulted. She agreed then to reconsider her resignation today itself.

The threat of trouble clouded preparations for tomorrow8217;s session. Banners proclaiming 8220;No Soniaji, No Session8221; were strung outside the Congress office. The message was driven home in slogans and the Karnataka state unit circulated an open appeal against conducting the meet unless Sonia agreed to chair it. Now that she is back in charge, the session is expected to be short and sweet. It will be geared to showcase her as the central issue of the Congress election campaign.

However, the future of the hated CWC remains unresolved. Party sources did not rule out the possibility of delegates voicing the demand for the entire CWC8217;s resignation tomorrow. Although the campaign for an en masse resignation by the party8217;s apex body continued today, spearheaded by the UP, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh state units, only Manmohan Singh brought his quit letter to this evening8217;s CWC meeting. Among those holding outare Arjun Singh, Vijayabhaskar Reddy, Rajesh Pilot and A K Antony. The office-bearers and some others had resigned earlier this week.

Mukherjee played down the central issue vexing the party by reiterating this evening that the AICC had authorised Sonia at its December session to 8220;reconstitute the entire organisation8221;. He said, 8220;That resolution is valid till today.8221;

Conventional wisdom suggests that Sonia would not like to buy fresh trouble for herself on the eve of elections by axing selected CWC members. But she will have to make some gesture to placate the party rank and file. Two options are open to her. She may fill up the three vacancies created by the expulsion of the dissidents with chosen loyalists to consolidate her hold. She could also constitute the Congress Parliamentary Boardsomething neither Narasimha Rao nor Sitaram Kesri didand marginalise the CWC in the allimportant business of ticket distribution. She indicated today that she did not want to open a new front immediately. 8220;Aapasmein mat lado, hamein BJP se ladna hai8221; 8220;Don8217;t fight among yourselves, our fight is against the BJP,8221; she is believed to have admonished a UPCC delegation that met her to plead for a purge in party organisations. But UPCC chief Salman Khursheed remained adamant. 8220;Mrs Gandhi must have a free hand to constitute her war cabinet,8221; he declared.

Expected, says Pawar

Expelled Congress leader Sharad Pawar today said Sonia Gandhi8217;s decision to withdraw her resignation as party president was 8220;just expected8221; and was aimed at diverting attention from 8220;basic issues8221; raised by the rebels. 8220;The entire show seen in the last few days seems to have been stage-managed,8221; Pawar said .