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Sonia puts one across to Pawar

Congress president Sonia Gandhi's apparent readiness to pull down the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre has come as a snub to her senior party colleague Sharad Pawar, who is its leader in the Lok Sabha.

Pawar had contended in a recent television interview that the Congress was not in favour of pulling down the A B Vajpayee government at this juncture since the time was not ripe. He had been pulled up by the party leadership for speaking out of turn on policy matters, with senior Congress leaders reminding him that he could only speak on such crucial matters after specifically obtaining permission from Gandhi.

However, at yesterday's Congress Parliamentary Party meeting Gandhi, as its chairperson, not only criticised the Vajpayee government but also exhorted her partymen to be alert so that they could be ready to assume any responsibility that might come their way.

In plain language, Gandhi had alerted her partymen to be ready to form the next government because she apparently felt that the inherent contradictions among the BJP-led coalition were gradually carrying it to its nemesis.

Asked to comment on the evident difference in the perceptions of Gandhi and Pawar on the issue of pulling down the BJP-led government, CPP secretary Prithviraj Chavan said, "We place importance on what our party chief has said in the matter. After all, she is also the chairperson of the CPP."

Asked to explain how Pawar had asserted that the Congress was not in favour of pulling down the BJP-led government, Chavan said, "What Gandhi has said is more relevant." He would not elaborate.

Congress leaders feel that as the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha, Pawar had little authority to make the controversial statement which Gandhi contradicted yesterday. Senior leaders like Madhavrao Scindia, K Vijayabhaskar Reddy and Oscar Fernandes are understood to have 'counselled' Pawar that he should desist from making such controversial statements without the prior permission of the party chief.

While Pawar was not available for comment, his close political aide Praful Patel declined to discuss the controversy. "There is nothing to talk about, the record has been set straight by the Congress president," he pointed out. He, however, said Pawar had been discharging his responsibilities as party leader in the Lower House of Parliament to the satisfaction of the Congress leadership. He pooh-poohed the suggestion that there was any possibility of Pawar being replaced as the party's leader in the Lok Sabha.

CPP officials, however, indicated that a few party leaders close to Gandhi had been demanding that the party leadership make Pawar accountable for his utterances. They are understood to have repeatedly told the Congress chief that the question of Pawar's accountability as Lok Sabha leader was vital because it will prevent wrong messages being sent out. According to these CPP officials, an imminent meeting of Gandhi and her top political aides will discuss the question of Pawar's accountability.

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