Commentary/Janardan Thakur

Pawar as CPP chief will keep Deve Gowda, Rao happy

If the bigwigs of the United Front had a say in deciding who would be the next leader of the Congress parliamentary party, the one-time strongman of Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar, would have been a sure winner. Especially if Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda had a choice. The reasons are not far to seek. What happens in the Congress in the next few weeks has a direct bearing on the survival of the United Front government. Deve Gowda would be only too happy if the Congress remains a divided house, with different power centres pulling in different directions. He certainly would not like all the levers in the party to be controlled by Sitaram Kesri. In the short time that the former treasurer has been the Congress president, he has not only marginalised all of Narasimha Rao's men, but has also filled many of the key positions in the party with persons who are at least anti-Rao if not pro-Kesri.

Besides, there is no love lost between Deve Gowda and Sitaram Kesri. The prime minister continues to be a Rao disciple, and still takes "lessons" from the 'Chanakya' of contemporary Indian politics every once in a while. Deve Gowda has attended at least 30 Rao classes since he became the prime minister, and his course is by no means over yet. With Kesri, on the other hand, Deve Gowda never tried to establish a rapport, perhaps because he thought Rao would remain the decision-maker in the Congress, especially where the CPP was concerned. He tried his best to ensure that the CBI handled Rao with kid gloves as far as possible. Deve Gowda believed that Sitaram Kesri would remain a second fiddle to Rao and so there was little point in trying to keep him happy.

Much as Kesri may say that the Congress was not interested in withdrawing support to the Deve Gowda government, neither Deve Gowda nor Rao believe him. They know Kesri now wants to be the prime minister himself. That hits Deve Gowda directly, and even Rao is averse to the removal of Deve Gowda; he needs a shield and who can provide a better shield than the present prime minister. And if it all Deve Gowda has to go, Rao would much rather have Sharad Pawar as the prime minister than anyone else, for the simple reason that Pawar could be trusted to drag his feet in pursuing cases of corruption. Nobody can see Pawar becoming a campaigner for probity in public life. More likely, he would (if he could) put a thick veil over all corruption cases and do all to put an end to what a large number of politicians have started describing as a "witchhunt."

The spate of scams in the country has brought forth a distinct group of politicians, cutting across party lines, who are "like-minded" on the issue of corruption. They take a benign view of corruption and believe there is not much point in talking too much about it. Not just that it is a "global phenomenon," but that some people in India are trying to make too much of corruption. The government and Parliament and the judiciary should get back to "more important things." It's a line which some top politicians have been pushing, a few like Chandra Shekhar quite openly, others like Sharad Pawar or Dr Jaganath Mishra in their drawing rooms.

It is easy to see why, for instance, Dr Jagannath Mishra would like Chandra Shekhar to become the leader of the Congress parliamentary party, regardless of the fact that he is not even a member of the Congress. Shekhar has for long been scoffing at the scam probes, saying it was time for government and Parliament to get on with more important issues. Narasimha Rao knows that Sharad Pawar had combined with Sitaram Kesri to have him pushed out of the CPP leadership, and yet when it comes to the choice of his successor, Rao joins hand with Pawar against Kesri. One obvious reasons is that Rao cannot stand the sight of Kesri any more, but more than that Rao would feel more comfortable with Pawar as the CPP leader. One doesn't quiet know what Sharad Pawar would actually say, if he were to become the CPP on the question of corruption in public life. Would he go beyond mumbling some inanities? His political track record seems to encourage many politicians who are in trouble to believe that he is the right man to back.

Undoubtedly many Congress MPs would feel far more comfortable with Pawar as the leader than, say, with Kesri. Sitaram's record is by no means impeccable and he has even had his own share of problems with the CBI, but he has been making noises about the need to eradicate corruption, the need for probity in public life et cetera, et cetera. Leaves a queasy feeling among CBI-pursued politicians. Prime Minister Deve Gowda would have no problems with Pawar. Rao and Deve Gowda are known to have similar attitudes on corruption. Deve Gowda is said to believe that some people are making too much of the scams. At one stage, the Prime Minister had even sought to bring about a "consensus" among top politicians against "judicial activism." He had talked to leaders of several political parties, but he had got a rebuff from at least one top politician: L K Advani. Before Deve Gowda became a "chela" of Narasimha Rao, he was the disciple of Chandra Shekhar, which perhaps explains his attitude on such issues. A wizened leader of Deve Gowda's own party had this to say: "If one starts one's career as a PWD (public works department) contractor, you must not expect him to be punctilious about under-the-table business."

Another United Front leader resented the "insinuations" about why they wanted Sharad Pawar to be the leader of the Congress parliamentary party. He of course agreed they would feel "more comfortable" with Pawar, one of the reasons being that he was more inclined to share power with the Front than pull the Deve Gowda government down. Some believe that Sharad Pawar would be quite happy to become the Deputy Prime Minister under Deve Gowda. They could be right; it would probably be a big jump for Pawar, something he needs badly today.

Pawar's supporters, however, fear that he might be "blackballed" by Sonia Gandhi, who is still seen as an important player in the game. The lady's allergy towards the Maharashtra leader dates back to Rajiv Gandhi's time, or perhaps even earlier. Indira Gandhi was highly suspicious of this ambitious politician who fancied himself as the manasputra of Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan. Though Rajiv Gandhi took a politically frustrated Pawar back into the Congress party, no real trust was ever established between the two. Indeed, circles close to 10 Janpath say that the political dossiers that were found on Rajiv Gandhi's HP computer, and which still largely determine Sonia Gandhi's attitudes towards various politicians, were "rather unfavourable" when they came to Sharad Pawar.

Much as Prime Minister Deve Gowda or Narasimha Rao may back Sharad Pawar, chances are that their horse may shy away from the race.