Pawar, Anwar, Sangma rebel
Vitusha Oberoi
Sunday Mid-Day
May 16, 1999.
Title: Pawar, Anwar, Sangma rebel
Author: Vitusha Oberoi
Publication: Sunday Mid-Day
Date: May 16, 1999.
Rebellion broke out against Congress President Sonia Gandhi here on
Saturday as a troika of Congress Working Committee (CWC) members led
by Sharad Pawar challenged her credentials to become the prime
minister of the country.
In a rude jolt to Sonia, CWC members Pawar, P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar
stated at a crucial CWC meeting here that the party practically had no
answers to the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign against her. They
said that the issue of Sonia being a foreigner was definitely an
emotive one and would affect the fortunes of the Congress in the
coming elections. According to available indications, the offensive
mounted against Sonia by the troika on Saturday is only the beginning
of a larger gameplan under which the senior leaders want to force her
out of the prime ministerial race.
In his first open move against Sonia, Pawar said that while the party
could tackle all the other issues raised by the BJP, it had no answers
for one major question, being raised by the urban Indian. He said
people wanted to know why a country of 980 million could not find a
competent person to lead it. Even as a stunned silence fell on the
gathering, Pawar said Sonia had led the party effectively, but it was
a different thing to be a party president, and quite another to be the
prime minister of the country.
The most stringent attack against Sonia came from Sangma who said even
the partymen knew nothing about her. Referring to issues like holding
of dual passports by Sonia, he pointed out that the vicious campaign
launched by the BJP against her could not be countered, basically
because the party leaders themselves did not know enough about her to
put up an effective fight. The former speaker was interrupted by some
of the other members but he refused to keep quiet, insisting that he
be allowed to have his say in the highest decision-making body of the
party. He said Sonia Gandhi's foreign status was an emotive issue, a
national issue which could not be answered by the Congress.
Sangma was supported by Tariq Anwar who said that the matter was
indeed a serious one. Another leader Rajesh Pilot opined that the
issue could be taken up after the elections. However, when Sonia
confidante Arjun Singh sought to ease up things by asserting that the
BJP's campaign could be countered, Pawar pointed out that her
foreigner status was not something which could be swept under the
carpet.
The attack from the three leaders came soon after Sonia Gandhi read
out a prepared statement in which she said she would not get cowed
down by the BJP propaganda against her. She said like Rajiv Gandhi
and Indira Gandhi before her, she would fight till the last. The
issue was first broached by R K Dhawan who lambasted the BJP for its
campaign and said the Congress would stand by Sonia.
According to sources, the rebellion against Sonia will only get
intensified from now onwards as the party leaders are in no mood to
accept her as the prime ministerial candidate. The leaders are
planning to force Sonia into reacting to the issues raised by them as
soon as possible.
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