THE CONGRESS CRISIS

It looks like curtains for Deve Gowda
A flurry of compromise formulae make the rounds of the capital as the political crisis enters its second week.
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Kesri launches vicious attack against prime minister
Deve Gowda, says the Congress leader, is incompetent and a promoter of communal forces.
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Back off, Congressmen tells Kesri
A senior Congress leader from Maharashtra said Kesri was fast losing options after a case regarding the murder of his personal physician came to court.
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'The best thing for India would be to have an all party national government'
Kewal R Malkani, BJP ideologue, tells the Rediff Chat.
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Madras is now the political capital of India
The DMK and Tamil Maanila Congress are crucial to finding a solution to the current political crisis.
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Love him or hate him, V P Singh shows he cannot be ignored
Saisuresh Sivaswamy on the importance of being V P Singh.
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APRIL 5

'We are heading towards a general election'
Former President Ramaswamy Venkataraman tells Rediff On The NeT, in an exclusive interview.
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Why Sitaram Kesri despises H D Deve Gowda
The real story behind the Congress withdrawal of support to the United Front.
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'My driver informed me that the Congress had withdrawn support'
Senior Congress leader Rajesh Pilot exposes party president Sitaram Kesri who claimed he had informed the former minister of the decision to withdraw support to the United Front government.
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Delhi police set up SIT to investigate Tanwar murder case
Dr Surendra Tanwar was Sitaram Kesri's physician. Police investigations had allegedly hinted at the involvement of ''certain influential persons''.
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Moopanar sniffs premiership
The Tamil Maanila Congress leader knows the numbers game well, especially since he was once a senior Congress functionary.
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Mutinous March, Trifecta, Kesri's Gate, and Apoplectic April
Varsha Bhosle shudders at the possibility of Sitaram Kesri becoming prime minister.
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It is now obvious that it was nothing but petty pique that made Kesri stake his party's very future
Saisuresh Sivaswamy on Sitaram Kesri's dwindling options.
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APRIL 4

Madam takes charge
Sonia Gandhi is trying to forge a consensus in the Congress party.
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'Kesri's decision is going to boomerang on him'
United Front convenor and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu believes the Congress president has made a serious miscalculation. An exclusive interview.
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Congress will not reconsider support to UF: Karunakaran
"We are ready to discuss issues of mutual concern after the prime minister quits," says the former Union minister.
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High court to hear case into murder of Kesri's physician on Friday
The Delhi police, it is learnt, will ask the court to hand over the probe into Dr S K Tanwar's death to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
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No change in United Front leadership: Surjeet
The Marxist leader, who is mediating between the Congress and the United Front, still hopes that Sitaram Kesri will back down from his stand.
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Constitutional crisis could result if parties disagree on Budget: Speaker
All the parties though have promised the Speaker assistance in passing the Budget.
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Congress attitude irks income tax authorities
Income tax authorities on Thursday said the party had not given them proper accounts, despite several opportunities.
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Fear and frustration finally drove Kesri to the desperate decision
Janardan Thakur profiles the Congress leader and his motives.
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One principle binds the Congress from top to bottom today: Power without polls
T V R Shenoy on why history is against H D Deve Gowda.
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APRIL 3

The numbers don't add up
The United Front is short of a majority by 86 seats, but neither the BJP nor the Congress have the necessary numbers either.
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'How could the Congress keep Deve Gowda in power, if he is allergic to our demands?'
K Karunakaran blasts the prime minister, in an exclusive interview.
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Dialogue continues between Congress, United Front
'Temperatures have come down from the Congress side,' says UF spokesman S Jaipal Reddy.
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'The country cannot be run to cater to the whims of one power hungry politician'
Somnath Chatterjee, Marxist leader in the Lok Sabha, savages Sitaram Kesri on the Rediff Chat.
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No problem over Budget says Sangma
The Speaker says he is confident the political parties are responsible enough to realise the implications of not passing the Budget before the vote of confidence is taken up.
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Pawar and Rao prepare to wage war against Kesri
There's trouble brewing for the Congress leader.
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If Deve Gowda goes, whom will the DMK-TMC support? The BJP or the Congress?
Beneath the public proclamations of support to the United Front, both parties weigh their political options.
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United Front ready for dialogue with Congress: Naidu
IT department slaps Rs 240 million fine on Congress... Mulayam to organise rally for Deve Gowda...
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APRIL 2

The Troubleshooter
CPI-M general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet mediates between the Congress and the United Front
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Deve Gowda sends feelers to the BJP
In a surprising development, the prime minister asked the BJP for help to ward off the Congress challenge.
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United Front refuses to change leadership
The UF has closed ranks to stand firmly behind Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda's leadership.
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''Let's hope the Congress will save itself from destruction'
G K Moopanar, in an exclusive interview to Rediff on The NeT.
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It's eyeball to eyeball, and someone's got to blink
Saisuresh Sivaswamy's daily commentary on the political developments in Delhi.
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APRIL 1

Show of Strength
President Shankar Dayal Sharma asks Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda to prove his majority in the Lok Sabha by April 11.
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Mr Dark Horse
G K Moopanar may well be India's next prime minister.
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'We came together to save secularism, not because we wanted to be in power'
G K Moopanar, in an exclusive interview to Rediff on The NeT.
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Next govt will be a Congress-led coalition: Kesri
Liberalisation, the Congress leader declares, will go on without deviation.
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Pawar toes party line as Congress leaders mull over how Kesri will muster support
"At this juncture it does not seem that any constituent of the UF government will support us," feel some Congress leaders.
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UF constituents unlikely to ditch Deve Gowda now: Advani
The BJP leader, however, wants the Lok Sabha to be convened immediately.
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Mahato drags Kesri into JMM MPs's bribery case
Sitaram Kesri, then the Congress treasurer, endorsed what the then prime minister, P V Narasimha Rao, had promised the MPs, alleges the JMM leader.
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`It will be good for Tamil Nadu if Moopanar becomes prime minister'
"We are trying to convince him to accept if the situation arises," says TMC general secretary S G Vinayagamoorthy.
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UF will survive, claims Namboodiripad
The Marxist patriarch feels the Congress may be unable to oppose a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha.
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MARCH 31

Kesri makes his move!
The Congress withdraws support to the United Front government, stakes claim to power.
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Decision to 'crucify' Deve Gowda was taken on Good Friday
"We decided to bring down the government as we felt that the time is up for the resurrection of the Congress party," K Karunakaran told Rediff On The NeT.
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Deve Gowda will not step down
The United Front prepares for trial of strength in Parliament.
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BJP to take a wait-and-watch attitude
The party believes the President should call it to form a government before he call the Congress to do so.
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We felt insulted by the UF: Antony
"There was no meaning in continuing support to the UF as the purpose for which the Congress had extended its support remained defeated," says the Kerala leader.
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'Deve Gowda wanted to undermine Congress'
What the Congress leader's letter to the President said.
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'Deve Gowda was aware of Congress move'
The United Front, one of its leaders told Star News on Sunday night, was already discussing the possibilities two days earlier and hence was not taken off guard.
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Kesri-Prasada tussle was smokescreen for withdrawal
The carefully-nurtured impression that Kesri and Prasada would contest the Congress president's post now appears to be a diversionary tactic for the actual purpose.
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Kesri bares his fangs, finally
Saisuresh Sivaswamy analyses Sunday's stunning political developments.
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The President has three options ahead of him
Meanwhile, a BJP leader hints at a secret deal between Dr Sharma and Sitaram Kesri.
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Industry hopes the withdrawal of support will not affect reform process
FICCI chief S Kasliwal hopes that the Finance Bill will still be passed with minor changes.
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How the United Front was put up
The Front has a thin majority in Parliament.
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It's a hat-trick for the Congress
The Congress is now going down in history as a party that is making a habit of withdrawing support to a government at the Centre, that it helps install in the first place
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