NEW DELHI, NOV 28: So the old fox has struck again. After keeping the nation guessing about his next move, Congress president Sitaram Kesri today took a gamble which could either elevate him to the status he seeks or consign him to a fate his predecessor is facing.At precisely 7.15 pm, Kesri ended the 19-month-old experiment with the country's first true coalition government and triggered off another round of hectic politicking.It was vintage Kesri, comfortable in the midst of chaos all around. Having divided the CWC into doves and hawks, Kesri finally merged the two brilliantly in two hours this afternoon in the CWC meeting. Over the last fortnight, he was sullen, silent and sombre by turns. In a memorable phrase, he told waiting journalists outside his house ``I am Sitaram, not Kanshi Ram. Let me live in peace.'' Today, at last after giving the go ahead for the fall of Gujral's government, he was patient, forthcoming and in relative ease. With the die cast, he now feels his party is ready to ``shoulder the responsibility (of running the government)''.In one stroke, he also kept the restive flock of first-time MPs with him by dangling the power carrot. The final touch was keeping Pranab Mukherjee, ever the cautious, and Arjun Singh, always the hawk, with him till the end. The two were at Kesri's house till the ``old man'' sped off towards Rashtrapati Bhavan.In a supreme irony, Mukherjee and Singh were forced to rub shoulders and draft the letter to K R Narayanan.The rest of the CWC was told to wait till 7 pm, an hour beyond the scheduled second round of discussions. In typical Kesri style, he called Oscar Fernandes at 6 pm to tell him that the CWC meeting was put off by an hour. As always, the faithful Fernandes did the dirty job of informing CWC members to stall their arrival by an hour.And while the CWC waited, Kesri pulled the plug on Gujral, an old friend whom he stood by as long as he could. Kesri did Gujral a last disfavour : he didn't give him the chance to recommend dissolution of the House, turning the UF into a minority government instead.Kesri was all aggression and confidence in his all-important press conference, which turned into a mini stampede. ``Aaj bechaini khatam ho gayi, Vaapas le liya humne support. Humne lagatar kaha ke DMK ko drop karo, lekin Gujral saab ne nahin maana. Jab unka jawaab uchit nahin tha, CWC ne faisla kar liya'' (Today the impatience has ended. We have withdrawn support. We repeatedly told them to drop DMK but when their reply was not appropriate, the CWC took a unanimous decision). For today, the Congress chief was in command. He expects the UF constituents' stand to change. ``After my withdrawal, I hope they will ponder seriously and reconsider,'' he offered. By then he had already made the first move. He has begun floating the theory that he will not be a Prime Ministerial candidate in the hope of buying support from UF constituents.His catch phrase now is unity and polity of secular forces. And in this job, the entire CWC is being drafted. His one brush was with the mob of photographers. ``Hataiye inko, hataiye na. Aap log aise arrangement karte ho,'' he admonished hapless Sewa Dal workers. One journalist lost his spectacles, others were trampled as Kesri's letter to the President was finally given out.As he has shown in the past, Kesri thrives in uncertainty. He has plenty of it on his hands now over the next few weeks.
