Commentary/Rajiv Shukla

Not only the Congress but the whole of India has great expectations from Kesri

What does Sitaram Kesri's victory in the Congress poll signify for Sitaram Kesri? I mean, apart from the obvious?

It means that Kesri is in for an uncomfortable time. If he won the polls by a thumping percentage, his responsibilities too have increased by the same margin. Now, not only his party but the whole of India (including the government!) has great expectations from him. His every move to revive Congress and his dealings with the I K Gujral government will be microscopically monitored.

Unlike Bharatiya Janata Party's L K Advani or Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Kesri is not the high command of his party. His word is not gospel for everyone in Congress. There is the strong dissident lobby comprising Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot to criticise him. And 10, Janpath always has a watchful eye on his activities.

Not only that, he has got three strong enemies -- P V Narasimha Rao, H D Deve Gowda and Chandra Shekhar. These three master strategists of Indian politics have their combined knife in Kesri: Rao is out to revenge Kesri's 'betrayal' and Deve Gowda cannot forget how the 'old man' toppled his government. As for Chandra Shekhar, he does not like any other politician other than himself!

If Chacha is to weather these troubles he has to get his act together, fast. The first thing is to revamp his team in the Congress office.

At the least, three new general secretaries should be brought in. There is no point in retaining people like Sudhakar Naik and Madhavsinh Solanki. Kesri should get people like Madhavrao Scindia, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, Dr Manmohan Singh, A K Antony and Kamaluddin Ahmed. He should also utilise the services of Arjun Singh, S Bangarappa, Naval Kishore Sharma, G Venkatswamy and Mamta Banerjee.

Banerjee, for one, is too powerful a force to be ignored. She is the angry young woman of Bengal. The party must utilise her services.

Then there are the old guards like Pranab Mukherjee, K Karunakaran, N D Tiwari and J B Patnaik. They must be taken into confidence on all policy matters.

Another area that needs attention is the Pradesh Congress Committees. Party workers are unhappy about the PCC chiefs, many of whom have been imposed on them. Kesri should either go for free and fair elections at important PCC units, or or replace at least half the chiefs.

Further, it would be better if the party's frontal organisations -- the Youth Congress and Seva Dal -- are entrusted to Kesri's political secretary Tariq Anwar. Anwar has headed both the units and would be able to give them a better boost than any general secretary.

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