V P Singh mediates from his sickbed

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in New Delhi

He had retired temporarily from active politics, but former prime minister V P Singh has dragged himself out of the sickbed to try and resolve the current political deadlock.

Singh, whose kidneys have nearly stopped functioning, was advised by doctors to have a transplant done when he recently went to the US for treatment. He is meeting leaders from the Congress and United Front at his bed on the sixth floor of the Apollo Hospital from where he has been trying to resolve the crisis since the Congress withdrew support from the government on March 30.

On March 29, Singh first underwent dialysis and the doctors had to reduce the planned two-and-half-hour procedure to one-and-a-quarter because of the nausea and pain that overcame the former premier.

Mediators in both the UF and Congress feel only Singh can solve the current crisis as he is close to members of both parties. And it is their opinion that he can solve the crisis before April 11, when Parliament convenes to decide Deve Gowda's fate.

It was at the behest of Congress president Sitaram Kesri that dissident leader Rajesh Pilot and Madhavrao Scindia went to meet Singh at the hospital. The raja reportedly informed Kesri that neither the UF nor the Congress could secure the necessary numbers to form a government alone. In the event of a mid-term poll only the Bharatiya Janata Party would benefit, he pointed out.

According to S Jaipal Reddy, the UF spokesperson, "Kesriji was one of the few Congress leaders to support V P Singh when he was prime minister on the issue of reservations for the backward castes and the stance taken by him on the Ayodhya issue."

The raja of Manda lost a vote of confidence in Parliament when the BJP withdrew support to his eleven-month-old National Front government.

Says Ubaidullah Azmi, Janata Dal MP and an associate of the ailing leader, "V P Singh pointed out to Kesriji that the decision to withdraw support would hurt the Congress and its leaders more than it would affect the UF. This is because secular voters would blame the Congress directly for making it easy for the BJP's possible return to power."

Meanwhile, UF leaders said they would make several concessions to the Congress if Kesri reconsiders his decision. Senior leaders are planning to form a co-ordination committee to iron out many differences that had arisen between them.