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Sangma promises not to touch BJP

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

Expelled Congressman Purno Agitok Sangma returned to India early Friday morning in the midst of the ongoing political crisis.

"Regarding my future plans, a decision will be taken after holding consultations with my colleagues Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar," he declared to a gathering of the media at his home.

Pawar is scheduled in New Delhi on Saturday. The three dissenters would meet in the day. "Wait for one week, which is not really a long time, and our course of action will become clear," said Sangma, a former Lok Sabha speaker.

Looking somewhat jet-lagged after his long journey from the United States, he added that Pawar, Anwar and he would meet other Congress leaders. He, however, refused to disclose any names.

"But the fact that the Congress Working Committee decision to expel us three was not unanimous is indication that we do have some support in the party," he said. He hinted that he expected other Congress leaders and workers to join the trio in coming days.

He ruled out any truck with the Bharatiya Janata Party. "We are still Congressmen. Simply expelling us does not mean that overnight our ideology and our values change. The only point where the BJP and we three agree upon is the single issue of whether a foreign-born person should be allowed to head the Government of India," he declared.

The former speaker insisted it was his duty to question Sonia's eligibility to be the country's prime minister. "As a citizen I have every right to demand that a citizen of Indian origin alone is suited for the job of prime minister."

He insisted he had nothing personal against Sonia, whom he respected as an individual as Rajiv Gandhi's widow.

The letter written by the trio, which triggered off the latest crisis, had also stated that the person who become prime minister must be aware of Indian society, culture and polity, a position he reiterated in an interview in the US. The implication was clearly that Sonia was a novice in such matters and therefore unfit to be prime minister.

He, nevertheless, refused to comment whether he expected Sonia, who was born in Italy and became a citizen on April 30, 1983, to be a security risk to the nation if she became prime minister. "Enough articles have been written on this subject and I do not wish to add to them," was all that he said.

Sangma ducked questions on why he had not rebelled against her leadership earlier. "Since I was then the speaker of the Lok Sabha, I was not part of the Congress," he said.

However, he added that when certain Congress leaders invited her to take charge of the party, she had then stated that she was not interested in power but was only seeking to rejuvenate the party. "I guess we were wrong when we believed her," he said.

The former speaker was also evasive when asked if it was fair to ask Sonia to do the dirty work of winning seats for the Congress but deny her the right to head the government. "Heading a party and heading a government are different," was all he would say.

Sangma insisted he had not rebelled against Sonia's leadership. "We three have nothing against her continuing as party president. In fact, we have praised her role for the same and we never asked her to resign as party president," he stated, adding, "But being party president and the country's prime minister separate and distinct positions."

The only time the suave and polished Sangma, famed for his impish smile and sense of humour, got angry was when asked why he and his colleagues depended on Sonia to rebuild the party. "The Congress has not been built up by the effort of a single individual nor does it depend on an individual alone," he said. "The Congress belongs to the people of India."

He pointed out that in the past, it had been a Congress tradition to have different persons as party president and prime minister, a practice which was discontinued once Indira Gandhi took over its reins. Since then, the party president has invariably been prime minister and vice versa, a habit continued by Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao. However, during Rao's tenure, there were murmurs of dissent at his holding both positions though nothing came of it.

Sangma denied that he had ambitions of becoming the prime minister. Incidentally, at one time there was talk of installing Sangma as the prime minister of an interim government. "My only ambition was to become a Cabinet minister and only because so far, no tribal person has become a Cabinet minister. That I became Lok Sabha speaker was a bonus," he stated.

He added that Pawar might have such ambitions. "But what's wrong in any citizen wanting to become prime minister of India?" he asked.

Sangma remains unsure of how many of his supporters in the North-East will back him. "I am hopeful, and I also have faith, that my supporters in the Congress will be with me," he said.

State Congress committees have so far stayed neutral in the ongoing war.

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