Kesri ready for another coup
Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
The United Front government's worst fears are coming true.
''Beware!'' a ''top secret'' intelligence report has reportedly warned the Inder Kumar Gujral government. ''Congress president Sitaram Kesri may stage another coup as his party is making a serious bid to regain power at the Centre.''
Quoting the report, a senior Janata Dal leader said Kesri was getting desperate as he has been unable to woo the electorate with viable programmes. Kesri feels the best way to catch their attention was to ensure that the polls are held soon.
What is more, Kesri feels it is a now-or-never chance for him. Already in his eighties and afflicted with a heart condition, the party chief feels the sooner he makes a bid for power the better it would be for himself, the report added.
Several Congressmen seem to be veering around to Kesri's viewpoint that elections are the only way out.
The intelligence agencies came to the conclusion after gauging the leader's mood at a series of party meetings, said the report, warning that the next coup by the ''old man in a hurry'' -- as then prime minister H D Deve Gowda called Kesri -- would be a bolt from the blue.
The report has warned that the winter
session of Parliament, which commencies on November 19, might prove crucial for the Gujral government's survival.
As for Kesri's oft-repeated assurance that the Congress would continue supporting the UF government, the report stressed that these ought to be taken with a pinch of salt. ''In the same breath, Kesri continues to exhort his partymen to be ready for the polls which, he has contended, are round the corner,'' the report warned.
The other notable aspect of the report is the possibility of Kesri using the Sonia card during the polls -- he will persuade her to canvass for the party. That Kesri has been frequently meeting Sonia Gandhi has been highlighted in this context.
The report is now being studied by the prime minister's office and the Union home ministry, said the Janata Dal leader. The Front leaders have been briefed about the report, and a brain-storming session would be held shortly to chalk out a strategy to counter the threat, he added.
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