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Kesri 'instigated' Meira to leave Congress

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Meira Kumar's leaving the Congress is at the instigation of party chief Sonia Gandhi's old adversary Sitaram Kesri. He had sworn that he would "get even" with Sonia after she ''unceremoniusly'' replaced him as the party chief, top party sources have confirmed.

They told rediff.com that Kesri had always "harboured" a grudge against Sonia and he was instrumental in giving Meira Kumar prominence in the Congress.

"Meira has been Kesri's factotum, something which Madame Sonia knew. That is why she sidelined Jagjivan Ram's daughter in the Congress affairs," the sources have confirmed. They have pointed out that recently when Sonia took to the streets to present a memorandum to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, she was arrested. The sources said that while a large number of Congress leaders had joined the Congress chief during her arrest, Kesri was conspicuous by his absence.

"Kesri later had a meeting with his followers the same evening at his residence where Meira Kumar was present," the sources underscored. They contended that Kesri was also in touch with former party chief and former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao who was actively involved in the oust-Sonia campaign, they pointed out.

Significantly, a known follower of Narasimha Rao was seen warmly embracing Meira Kumar during the latter's press conference at the weekend where she declared that she was keeping her options open on which party she would join after jettisoning the Congress.

According to the sources, some Congress Working Committee members have informally discussed Meira Kumar's departure from the party. They noted that the party emissary Bhajan Lal -- deputed by the high command to woo her back -- "sampled" a measure of Meira Kumar's anger against Sonia when he went to her Krishna Menon Marg residence.

"The way she raved and ranted against our party chief showed that she had been well-tutored and we know that Kesri was responsible for it," the sources contended.

Well-known Kesri acolyte Tariq Anwar, who left the Congress along with senior party colleagues Sharad Pawar and Purno A Sangma to form the Nationalist Congress Party, virtually confirmed that Meira Kumar belonged to the Kesri bandwagon.

"Why Meiraji, many others in the Congress are shocked at the way the party is drifting," Anwar told rediff.com. "Mark my words, the declaration of the results of the impending assembly polls will be the signal for the revolt against Sonia because everybody knows where the party stands in Bihar, Orissa and Haryana."

But Ahmad Patel, widely regarded as the Congress chief's confidant, dismissed any suggestion of any challenge from within the party to Sonia. "What you say is interesting but where is the alternative to her among us?" he asked. "Soniaji is firmly in the saddle because the people want her and love her. So I don't think anybody in the party can aspire to replace her," he underscored.

Bihar Congress chief Sadanand Singh does not think the likes of Kesri or even Narasimha Rao can touch Sonia because "they have had their innings and Kesri has messed it up. They are spent bullets which cannot even be fired," he heatedly pointed out.

But Sadanand Singh's defence of Sonia wells up from the fact that she has okayed his candidature for the polls in Bihar, where the party has great hopes of doing well. The Congress chief has also accepted the Bihar state unit's request for campaigning and the sources indicated that the possibility of Sonia's daughter Priyanka Vadra canvassing in the state is a distinct possibility.

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