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Congress may pit Karan Singh against Vajpayee

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

After an intense search for a strong candidate for the Lucknow parliamentary constituency, the Congress has zeroed in on Dr Karan Singh, former crown prince and Sadar-i-Riyasat of Jammu and Kashmir, to take on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Top-level sources in the party told rediff.com that the Congress had been looking for a candidate who not only measured up to the prime minister in political experience but also in stature.

Eventually, Dr Singh's name was proposed and, it is believed, was cleared by party chief Sonia Gandhi.

Dr Singh, who was foreign minister in Indira Gandhi's Cabinet and was also an ambassador to the United States, recently rejoined the Congress. His son Ajatshatru is married to the daughter of senior Congress general secretary Madhavrao Scindia.

The Congress sources indicated that despite the Bharatiya Janata Party's propaganda about the prime minister's "invincibility" in Lucknow, Dr Singh is a universally respected figure whose electoral prospects cannot be brushed aside.

They referred in this context to the Muslim electorate in Uttar Pradesh and said it is likely to vote en bloc for the Congress, which is best placed to defeat the BJP.

"The Muslims will largely vote for us in Uttar Pradesh as Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party has exposed his true colours by being in league with the BJP," said Salman Khursheed, former Union minister and now Congress president in Uttar Pradesh. "Soniaji's rallies in this state have drawn large numbers of people, including Muslims and upper-caste Hindus, and I am sure the BJP is in for a shock," he added

Last year, Vajpayee had defeated his nearest Samajwadi Party rival, filmmaker Muzaffar Ali, by the massive margin of 219,222 votes. The Congress, which did not get a single seat in the state, had supported Ali's candidature. Optimistic Congress politicians, banking on the perceived swing of Muslim votes in the state to their party, are hoping to get as many as 15 seats this time.

A veteran Congress activist, who left for Lucknow tonight to accompany Sonia Gandhi when she arrives on Friday to file her nomination for the Amethi parliamentary constituency, indicated that the party would highlight the "weaknesses" of the prime minister.

In this context, he referred to an alleged snakebite sustained by a sister of the prime minister in his ancestral village near Agra. He claimed that despite getting an SOS from his relatives, Vajpayee did not visit his ailing sister who eventually died. "If Vajpayee cannot protect his sister, how can he protect the nation, as his Kargil fiasco has proved," the party worker demanded.

Dr Singh, however, has reportedly made clear his preference for a low-profile campaign and requested party activists not to indulge in any vilification of the rival candidate. He has told the party leadership that he prefers an intellectual debate with the BJP candidate.

It is also learnt that prominent Muslims from Lucknow have called on Dr Singh to congratulate him on his selection as the Congress candidate in Lucknow and promised him their "whole-hearted" support.

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