UF says Deve Gowda will go, but wants Congress to support it on Friday

George Iype in New Delhi

Peace talks between the United Front partners and the Congress to end the week-long political crisis narrowed down on Monday to the crucial issue of replacing Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda with a consensus candidate.

To escape from the mess that they find themselves in, the UF constituents are veering around to the view that negotiations for a leadership change in the UF could begin after the Congress helps Deve Gowda win the vote of confidence on April 11.

The tenacious peace-making efforts by West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh have so far failed to prevail upon Congress president Sitaram Kesri to give up his demand for Deve Gowda's immediate ouster.

UF troubleshooters -- CPI-M general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Tourism Minister Chand Mahal Ibrahim -- have begun negotiating afresh with the Congress leaders to find an honourable solution to the political impasse.

According to senior Congress Working Committee member A K Antony, who met these leaders in the capital, the UF has expressed its readiness 'to search for a candidate' to replace Deve Gowda on one condition: that the Congress helps it win the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

But Antony said the Congress cannot accept the condition. "The Congress has taken a principled stand that it cannot continue to support the Deve Gowda government. Therefore, as a first step, the prime minister is duty-bound to step down,'' he told Rediff On The NeT.

Antony said the Congress hopes to find ''an amicable solution by April 10," when the Congress Parliamentary Party meets to appraise MPs of the party's strategy for D-Day.

''We want the UF steering committee on April 9 to ask Deve Gowda to resign as a first step towards reconciliation,'' he added.

The former Kerala chief minister acted as Kesri's emissary on Monday to assuage the ruffled feelings of party MPs who hold the view that the Congress chief has erred by withdrawing support to Deve Gowda.

Antony held a series of meeting with senior leaders like former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, former ministers Pranab Mukherjee and Sharad Pawar to discuss the Congress action plan. ''We need to make sure the party's unity does nor suffer any setback on crucial occasions like this,'' he said.

Though there is a near unanimous view that Tamil Maanila Congress leader G K Moopanar could be a consensus choice as Deve Gowda's successor, there are other names doing the rounds in the capital -- External Affairs Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A Sangma.

While the shape of the new political realignment is still unclear, what has began disturbing MPs is the possibility of a mid-term poll. Many believe even if a loose-knit Congress-led or UF-led coalition government is formed next week, a general election is inevitable in the months to come.

Meanwhile, Basu says the possibility of his becoming prime minister was ''a closed chapter.''

''Why do you ask the same question again and again?'' he asked newsmen in Calcutta.

Commenting on the latest political situation in Delhi, Basu, without naming the Congress, said ''I have told them to reconsider their stand considering the national interest, but let us wait till April 11 and see what happens.''