Pro-Sonia campaign rattles Kesri

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Congress president Sitaram Kesri has summoned his crisis-management team as the campaign for Sonia Gandhi's election as party chief picks up momentum.

The team -- including Kesri's political secretary Tariq Anwar -- discussed the designs of the 'Rajiv Brigade' in this regard, a senior Congress general secretary told Rediff On The NeT.

The flood of letters at Kesri's home and the Congress headquarters indicate that he has to take some urgent steps if he wants to retain control over the party. Significantly, Kesri has started visiting 10 Janpath, Sonia's home, regularly in an bid to retain her support for his candidature in next month's organisational election.

To Kesri's distress, it was Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Chaudhary Prem Singh who was instrumental in making Sonia a member of the party. Singh is a lieutenant of Arjun Singh who, besides N D Tewari, continue to languish on the sidelines despite the Indira Congress's merger with the parent party.

According to the Congress general secretary quoted earlier, Arjun Singh has been in close touch with Sonia ever since he lost the Lok Sabha election from Satna in Madhya Pradesh. Political observers feel Arjun Singh has persuaded Sonia to join the party with a view to keeping Kesri on his toes.

As Kesri comes to terms with the threat from 10 Janpath, dissident party leader A R Antulay has withdrawn from the Congress presidential poll race. Antulay felt Sonia is against disunity in the party and that she would back Kesri for the party president's post.

Kesri's mishandling of party affairs, especially his role in the ouster of the Deve Gowda government, has convinced a large number of Congressmen that it is high time Rajiv's widow took over the party presidency. These Congress leaders, who number about 15, will soon ask Kesri to invite Sonia to take over the Congress presidency besides inducting her into the high-powered Congress Working Committee.