Too senior to fight, Rao among Elders?

There are indications that the Congress might not give a ticket to former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to contest for the Lok Sabha ele...

There are indications that the Congress might not give a ticket to former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to contest for the Lok Sabha elections, but it may consider giving him a Rajya Sabha nomination later.

March 1 has come and gone and there are no signs of Digvijay Singh, former MP Chief Minister who is in charge of Orissa, calling on Rao either to make the offer or to ascertain his views on the subject. When asked, Singh told The Indian Express, ‘‘There is no such proposal as of now to talk to Mr Rao. This is a decision which will have to be taken at the top.’’

Narasimha Rao, when contacted, said, ‘‘As of now, no one has come to see me to ask me.’’ He refused to say anything more on the subject.

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‘‘We cannot expect Mr Rao to contest the Lok Sabha election at the age of 82,’’ said a senior party functionary.

If Narasimha Rao were to meet Sonia Gandhi and request her for a ticket, she will find it very difficult to refuse, but that seems unlikely. Even in 1991, he had not asked for a ticket and had packed up his bags to go back to Andhra Pradesh when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated.

Those close to Rao, however, say that he would not be averse to contesting this time if the party were to request him, now that he has been acquitted in all the cases in which he had been embroiled during the last eight years.

The trouble is that the party is sharply divided on the question of giving a ticket to Rao. The old guard favours it. The Congress campaign would get a fillip if heavyweights enter the fray.

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Others, however, argue that rehabilitating Rao would annoy the Muslims, who hold him responsible for the demolition of the Babri Masjid. In recent years, the minorities have been gravitating back to the Congress and nothing should be done to alienate them again.

There is a fear among his opponents that there could be a consensus on Rao as a prime ministerial candidate, even if the party gets around 150 seats, and the secular parties are in a position to form a government. He used to enjoy a rapport with many regional chieftains like Mulayam Singh, Laloo Yadav, Mayawati and Kanshi Ram, and even Chandrababu Naidu.

P A Sangma and Subramanian Swamy have already stated that Rao should lead the secular alliance. Even when the Congress party had lost in 1996, leaders like the late Biju Patnaik had reportedly called him and urged him to try and form a government again and offered Rao his backing. But his own party ruled it out. One thing, however, is clear this time— whether or not Rao gets a ticket, he is back with a bang as a talking point in the party.