Pawar toes the party line as Congress leaders mull about how Kesri will muster support

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in New Delhi and Suparn Verma in Bombay

Sharad Pawar, who had taken exception to the Congress decision to withdraw support to the United Front government, backed down on Monday. The former defence minister told reporters that he had no difference of opinion with the party leadership.

After a 30 minute meeting with party president Sitaram Kesri, Pawar said there was no difference of opinion about the move to withdraw support to the UF government.

Pawar, who flew into the capital from Pune late on Sunday night, also had a meeting with senior party leader Pranab Mukherjee. He also held discussions with Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, P C Chacko, Praful Patel and N K P Salve.

Sources close to Pawar, who was not informed of Sunday's decision -- which he called " a bolt from the blue" -- said the political situation in the aftermath of withdrawal of support to the UF government was discussed threadbare at the strategy session.

The overwhelming view at the meeting was that a split in the party at this jucture would be disastrous, would lead to disintegration of the party and should therefore be avoided at all costs.

It was also felt that there was no point taking on Kesri after the Congress Working Committee had authorised him to act on behalf of the party.

The Pawar group therefore decided not to make withdrawal of support an issue and fell in line with the party move.

Some Congress leaders, however, mulled over how their octogenarian leader will win enough support to secure a majority in the Lok Sabha.

The Congress and its allies have 143 seats in the Lok Sabha and need another 130 MPs to reach the magic figure of 272 to prove its majority.

Speaking to Rediff On The NeT on Monday, Dr Jagannath Mishra, the former Bihar chief minister who is an acerbic critic of Kesri said, "I would like the Congress to form the government, but it is not possible without a large chunk of the United Front supporting us. At this juncture it does not seem that any constituent of the UF government will support us."

Says Suresh Kalmadi, a close aide of former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, "I would love to see the formation of a Congress government, but how is it possible? No one in our party knows. I don't know which secular party will support us to form the government."

Congress MPs are apprehensive that if Kesri is unable to prove his majority, they will be unable to retain their seats in the consequent mid-term poll.

"No one in our party wants a mid-term poll. The whole purpose of supporting the UF government was to ensure that the BJP must not rule at the Centre. If a mid-term poll is held today," says Kalmadi, "it looks like the BJP will do better than the last time around."

Kesri took the decision when Rajesh Pilot and Pawar, two of the leading challengers to his position, were out of Delhi. Pawar was away in Pune, Maharashtra, whereas Pilot was away in Nagaland.

Pawar was seen as being close to Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda while Pilot had been at the forefront of the move to reopen the murder case of Kesri's personal physician Dr Tanwar, the first hearing of which will be held on April 4 in the Delhi high court.

Says Pilot, "On February 16, the CWC decided that the Congress president has the right to make decisions. If Kesri has taken this step, he must have thought something about it. Now it is a million dollar question how we will prove our majority."

Matang Singh, the former Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs and one of Rao's troubleshooters, however, ruled out the possibility of a Pawar-inspired split in the Congress. "There are personal differences in the party, but there won't be a split in the Congress."

One Congress leader, who described Pawar as "a dealer, not a leader", felt the Maharashtra politician, who has 22 MPs supporting him, could still back Deve Gowda if the prime minister is allowed time to prove his majority.

One Congress leader, speaking off the record, felt in the event that the President does not call Kesri to form a government, then the Congress may be compelled to support the United Front again, this time on the condition that there is a change in the Front's leadership. If this scenario becomes a reality, Tamil Maanila Congress G K Moopanar may well emerge as India's next prime minister.

The Front will not buckle under pressure and change its leadership merely to remain in power, highly placed UF sources said on Monday.

Commenting on reports that the Congress would consider an alternative ruling arrangement at the Centre if the Front conceded its demand for removal of H D Deve Gowda as prime minister, the sources said such a move would send the wrong signals that the UF was vulnerable to pressure.

The sources said there was no guarantee about the longevity of such an arrangment with the Congress. This could also lead to loss of credibility of the Front.

"At the moment," adds Matang Singh, "the BJP is the only party that is interested in a mid-term poll. Not a single Lok Sabha MP is interested in an election."