Sonia begins damage control

Meanwhile, Meira8217;s chances of returning to the party receded, even though she has been giving contradictory signals in the last two days. She expressed her loyalty to the Congress president in her talks with R L Bhatia and Sushil Kumar Shinde when they met her to dissuade her from leaving the party. Publicly, she criticised the party for its 8220;directionlessness8221; and the durbar culture of sycophancy which is prevalent today.

George Fernandes reportedly met Meira twice at her 6, KrishnaMenon Road residence, which was allotted to the trust in her father, Jagjivan Ram8217;s name, allowing the family to stay there permanently. Meira8217;s resignation coincided with the decision of the Government in her favour regarding the house.

Fernandes, who has brought around Meira8217;s husband, is believed to have promised her a Rajya Sabha seat and a berth in the NDA ministry. Defeated in the recent Lok Sabha elections, Meira had wanted a Rajya Sabha seat from Delhi. As another wheel within the wheel, the Fernandes offer is seen as a move to checkmate Ram Vilas Paswan, also a Dalit leader from Bihar like Meira. Paswan is vehemently opposed to the entry of Meira. Both Paswan and Nitish Kumar of the Samata Party are contenders for the chief ministership of the state.

Meira8217;s case is the first salvo fired by the dissidents in the Congress as part of their post-poll strategy to make the going rough for Sonia. As things stand, the Congress is not expected to do well in any of the four states Bihar, Orissa, Haryanaand Manipur going to the polls this month. There is a growing feeling in the party that she is not able to deliver votes to the Congress, or move the party towards revival.

While Sonia would hope to ride the storm which may follow the Assembly polls, waiting for the tide to turn against the Vajpayee ministry and towards the Congress again, her detractors want to create a situation in which she is forced to leave. To begin with, half-a-dozen members of the CWC might ask for the enforcement of the one-person-one-post principle, so that she is compelled to quit either as Congress president or as Leader of the Opposition.

Ironically, this is what happened in 1996 with PV Narasimha Rao to prevent him from coming to power again at the head of a coalition, as the Congress had emerged as the second largest party and no one was prepared to touch the BJP at the time.