For a man who
should have been in the political doghouse after his entire following of MLAs in Uttar
Pradesh walked over to the BJP last month, Jitendra Prasada has done remarkably well. As
president of the Uttar Pradesh unit, he triggered the chain of events that led to Sitaram
Kesri withdrawing support to the Deve Gowda government one Sunday morning in April. Now,
through sheer perseverance he has kept alive his image as a hawk in the Jain Commission
controversy. Apart from Arjun Singh, Prasada is almost alone in the CWC in attaching
importance to Jain's actual findings. Once Kesri's passport to the Congress presidency,
Prasada is prompted by a single-minded dedication to unsettling the Gujral Government and
embarrassing his erstwhile mentor. Throughout this crisis, he kept the heat on Kesri not
to budge an inch from the CWC's resolution calling for the removal of the DMK from the
Government, terming it a choice between "nationalism and antinationalism". It is
not that Prasada has delusions about the Congress sweeping a mid-term poll. After all, he
doesn't even want an alliance with Mulayam Singh Yadav in his home state of Uttar Pradesh.
It is just that the wrecker of today is also a long-distance runner. He has his eyes
firmly set on the Congress presidency after Kesri is forced to bow out in disgrace.
Judging from the present, he may not have to wait too long.
For a man who
should have been in the political doghouse after his entire following of MLAs in Uttar
Pradesh walked over to the BJP last month, Jitendra Prasada has done remarkably well. As
president of the Uttar Pradesh unit, he triggered the chain of events that led to Sitaram
Kesri withdrawing support to the Deve Gowda government one Sunday morning in April. Now,
through sheer perseverance he has kept alive his image as a hawk in the Jain Commission
controversy. Apart from Arjun Singh, Prasada is almost alone in the CWC in attaching
importance to Jain's actual findings. Once Kesri's passport to the Congress presidency,
Prasada is prompted by a single-minded dedication to unsettling the Gujral Government and
embarrassing his erstwhile mentor. Throughout this crisis, he kept the heat on Kesri not
to budge an inch from the CWC's resolution calling for the removal of the DMK from the
Government, terming it a choice between "nationalism and antinationalism". It is
not that Prasada has delusions about the Congress sweeping a mid-term poll. After all, he
doesn't even want an alliance with Mulayam Singh Yadav in his home state of Uttar Pradesh.
It is just that the wrecker of today is also a long-distance runner. He has his eyes
firmly set on the Congress presidency after Kesri is forced to bow out in disgrace.
Judging from the present, he may not have to wait too long. 
