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Sangma sees split in Congress after poll

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Lok Sabha speaker Purno A Sangma has claimed that there would be a major split in the Congress party after the parliamentary election.

''The same Congressmen who are now hailing Congress president Sonia Gandhi would be after her once it becomes clear that the party has failed to rise to the people's expectations.

"The whole party would be bowled out for a paltry ninety-nine. They would not reach a three-figure mark," predicted Sangma in an exclusive interview with rediff.com.

"The Congress party would be in a shambles after the polls. I think the time has come for the Archaeological Survey of India to take over the Congress party because any monument which is more then one hundred years old is looked after by the ASI," he laughed.

Sangma said that ''Mahatma Gandhi would have been very happy to see that we have accomplished the task which he had set for himself. Gandhi wanted Nehru to disband the Congress party but Congressmen instead went on to rule the country and kept on asking for votes in exchange for what they had done during the freedom struggle. Gandhiji would be happy that we had done the job for him," he said with a mischievous smile.

Sangma firmly believes that the Nationalist Congress Party would put up a good show in the Lok Sabha election.

"We have got good response from the people. Gone are the days when the electorate could be fooled by what you had done in the past. They want to know what you doing for them now. A majority of the one billion people in India were born after August 15, 1947. Over 65 per cent of the electorate are between the age of 18 and 40. They are forward-looking people. They want to know what you are doing about reducing their employment problems. Their education, their other day-to-day problems. You cannot keep on black mailing people. And why should the people vote for the Congress party which is projecting a foreigner as its leader? We are a proud nation of over one billion people and we have the capacity to lead our nation. We don't need to import a foreigner to tell us what to do and what not to do," he said.

When asked to name some Congress leaders who might join the party after the poll, Sangma said that there is no need to name a few leaders. "Because there would be so many that you would not be able to count them," he promised with a giggle.

"Dr Manmohan Singh is contesting from the New Delhi parliamentary constituency. This is a good sign. But it would remain only a sign. You should not be surprised if Dr Singh loses in the Lok Sabha poll because the Congress party would be working overtime to ensure that Dr Singh does not win the election. I would not use the word sabotage. But it would be something close to that," he predicted.

When his attention was drawn to the claims being made by the ruling BJP that, after the poll, Pawar would become the chief minister of Maharashtra with the help of the BJP and the BJP in return would get the NCP's backing at the Centre, Sangma said that this was mere speculation and had already been denied by Pawar himself.

"There is no question of the National Congress Party joining hands with the BJP after the poll. You would have to wait till the end of the poll to know what might transpire once the poll is over. You would see a major realignment of the political forces. You may see many things happening which you may not have even imagined."

Aren't you soft-peddling on BJP? " No. You must go through our manifesto. We cannot allow a communalist party to rule India. The party which was responsible for the Kargil fiasco. There is no question of the NCP joining hands with the BJP. We want Vajpayee to go. But we must find a solution to the present crisis. You cannot have elections every year. In Japan, Italy and other countries governments change but their developmental activities continue. Their economy keeps going on a steady path. We may have two prime ministers in five years but the Lok Sabha should not be dissolved before the full term," he added.

NCP leaders Sharad Pawar, Sangma and Tariq Anwar have been in touch with Congress leaders. If the disenchantment continues and the Congress fails at the poll, the trio may be the centre of attraction. But senior Congress leaders think that Pawar and company are living in a fool's paradise and there would be no split in the party even it fails to achieve the desired results and fairs miserably.

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