Kesri-baiters plan to strike at Congress chief after Punjab poll

Tara Shankar Sahay and Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Delhi

Sitaram Kesri has reportedly told his supporters that if he is provoked again by the United Front government, he will summon the Congress Working Committee and discuss withdrawing the party's support to the H D Deve Gowda government.

Tariq Anwar, the Congress president's political secretary, confirmed the threat in a conversation with Rediff On The NeT. "We have repeatedly cautioned the UF government not to take our support for granted. The question of continuing support to the UF government or withdrawing it will be discussed, if necessary, by the leadership."

Meanwhile, Kesri's detractors in the party are awaiting the conclusion of the Punjab assembly election before they strike against the Congress leader . The electoral prospects for the Congress in Punjab do not appear to be very good and the Kesri-baiters feel the Congress chief's image will suffer a serious setback if the party -- which today rules the state -- loses power.

Keeping Kesri on tenterhooks is the CBI inquiry into the alleged possession of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. But that is not the only cloud on the Congress chief's horizon.

Former internal security minister Rajesh Pilot -- who challenged Kesri for the Congress Parliamentary Party leadership -- wrote to Prime Minister Deve Gowda earlier this week, seeking an investigation into the murder of Dr Surendra Tanwar, Kesri's personal physician a couple of years ago. Dr Tanwar's mutilated body was found in a gunny bag outside the home of his nurse in New Delhi.

Monday's meetingbetween the prime minister and Congress leader K Karunakaran also seems to have upset the Kesri faction which apparently perceives a threat to it from this encounter.

Barely two months after he was forced to quit as CPP leader, former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao is also activating his supporters to launch a scathing onslaught on Kesri.

Congress sources said Rao plans to strike at Kesri after the Punjab poll. The former premier has made it clear of late that he is very active in national politics. He has met with a string of politicians recently and caused quite a stir when he turned up at the iftar parties hosted by Deve Gowda and Kesri.

Rao's supporters are especially dismayed by the manner in which former Punjab chief minister Harcharan Singh Brar was expelled from the Congress last week when he was in hospital. Says a Rao aide: "This is not the way to treat any senior party leader. If they had to expel him, they should have done so after the election."