Sonia orders probe into State RS loss

Pawar is believed to have explained to Sonia that Pradhan8217;s defeat was as much of a shock to him as it was to everyone else. The Maratha strongman, who is in the eye of a storm, is understood to have stressed that he had nothing to do with the defeat of the party8217;s official nominee who polled far less votesthan Kalmadi and even Independent candidate Vijay Darda.

10, Janpath, however, is furious. Apparently, Sonia was sure of a Congress victory for both seats in Maharashtra as 8220;everything was tied-up8221;.

8220;Nobody is happy at this situation where we lost a seat we should have won.quot;

Action will be taken after the inquiry team submits its report to the Congress president. This has upset her. We never expected it. Every seat was important,8221; said a source close to 10, Janpath.

Ravi apparently told Sonia that this development could demoralise the party cadre, a serious fallout, in 10, Janpath8217;s eyes. He said he would submit his own report in a couple of days, which would be apart from the inquiry team8217;s report. Ravi added as far as he knew, 8220;Pawar worked for a Congress victory8221;.

Pawar is being accused by a section of the Congress as having played a role in engineering Pradhan8217;s defeat. The most damning fact here is that Darda managed far more votes than the two official Congress candidates, Pradhan andNajma Heptulla. Heptulla barely scraped through avoiding a humiliating defeat but Pradhan couldn8217;t.

Since Pawar is the Congress strongman in Maharashtra, fingers are being pointed at him. But the man in the limelight quietly slipped out to London today from Mumbai on a 8220;tour8221; and is expected in Delhi only on July 2, a day before the Budget session of Parliament resumes its sittings. Pawar had taken it upon himself to ensure Kalmadi8217;s defeat and it is being speculated in Congress circles that this pre-occupation could have cost Pradhan his seat.

Pradhan himself is sure he was done in. When contacted in Mumbai, he said: 8220;The important thing is that Vijay Darda was given support at the expense of the Congress candidate. He got more votes than the both of us Pradhan and Najma. The party is seized of the matter and will carefully examine it.

The voting pattern makes it clear. These old-time politicians must have understood everything by now.8221; Pradhan was nominated only because of his close links to 10,Janpath. 8220;There is talk of a lot of money being involved in the cross-voting and we must look into it,8221; Pradhan added. He said he was likely to visit Delhi next week.

But the Congress high command is angry that the gain of three seats for the party elsewhere has been neutralised by the Maharashtra loss. For example, MN Das Orissa, Kapil Sibal Bihar and Khan Gufran Zaidi Uttar Pradesh got through on the support of Congress allies but this gain has been buried by the high-profile controversy over Maharashtra.