NEW DELHI, AUG 27: Veteran Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee's new assignment as the West Bengal PCC chief is not simply an expression of the high command's concern for the party's bleak affairs in the state but more an outcome of several months intra-party machinations aimed at his removal from the party's national scene.Party circles say that after AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel's abrupt exit in June, Pranab is the second senior leader to have fallen victim to coterie politics, engineered by the redoubtable Arjun Singh. In the ongoing power play at the party's highest levels, Pranab, despite not being part of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's innermost trusted circle, occupied an important, almost unassailable position, mainly due to his vast political and parliamentary experience.The West Bengal imbroglio offered Pranab's detractors the opportunity to get even with him and in this operation, Arjun, it appears, was able to ``prevail'' upon senior leader and old Madhya Pradesh colleague Kamal Nath to recommend his (Pranab's) name for the PCC chief's post. Kamal Nath had been asked by Sonia to assist AICC general secretary incharge Prabha Rau in resolving the mess in Bengal and it was he - after ``ascertaining the views of the party workers'' - who sent Pranab's name to the party chief as the best possible replacement of A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhary.Pranab, who resisted the move, was given a fait accompli. Although he has been ``assured'' by Sonia that his services would continue to be valued in the AICC, the fact remains that with his shift to state politics, Arjun Singh has emerged that much more stronger in the party hierarchy.Pranab's equations, if party sources are to be believed, had changed in the last few months, especially after it was widely rumoured that he too was among those unhappy with the present state of affairs in the party and was close to several known dissidents such as Jitendra Prasada, R.K. Dhawan and the late Rajesh Pilot. It was talked about in party circles that dissidents had even met secretly at his residence to chalk out their strategy a couple of months back.All this was apparently exploited by his detractors, who sought to paint him in the image of a ``closet dissident''. The whisper campaign mounted against Pranab also sought to question his proximity with former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to who most dissidents in the party look to for inspiration.The controversy generated over the party's stand on the nuclear deterrent issue after Sonia's meeting with US president Bill Clinton earlier this year was also blamed on Pranab, in his capacity as chairman of the party's media department.The senior leader was among those on Rao's side when Arjun was expelled from the party in 1993. Since then Arjun is said to be at odds with Pranab because while Rao went into oblivion, Pranab, the survivor, continued to occupy a key position in Sonia's regime too. Arjun's entry to the Rajya Sabha earlier this year triggered off a silent, behind-the-scenes contest for the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House which may be up for grabs after Manmohan Singh's term expires in June next year.Arjun's prospects may have become brighter with Pranab - who is the party's chief whip in the Upper House and as such a strong contender - away in West Bengal. Arjun's ``high visibility'' during the current session of the Rajya Sabha didn't go unnoticed in party circles either.
