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THE NATION: CONGRESS
Congress' Weaknesses Affects Crusade Against BJP
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V. George, Secy to Sonia
CHARGES: Law finally catches up with the Congress president's
secretary for amassing wealth disproportionate to his income.
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Inherent weaknesses
also held the Congress back from waging a full-throated campaign against
corruption. Its own questionable past forced it to expound on the threat
to national security posed by the dubious defence deals rather than target
its guns on the sleaze in the system. Its campaign was shaped by the strident
mood during the AICC session, held immediately after the Tehelka expose.
But while the AICC gave the agitation the status of an election campaign,
the party units in the five states going to polls chose to evade the issue.
There were also other organisational angularities
cramping the election campaign. For instance, central leaders assigned
as observers avoided states where the organisation was weak. They were
keen to visit only Congress-ruled states. The only positive spin-off was
that the programme recharged party workers. As former UPCC president Salman
Khurshid says, ''To the Government, our campaign must have been like the
fleas on the dog. The more the dog scratches, the more it hurts itself.''
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Ajit Jogi, Chhattisgarh
CM
CHARGES: Filed a false affidavit in 1995 as an MP understating
his income to secure a petrol pump in Delhi. He surrendered the dealership
when found out. |
Ever since Tehelka, Sonia has been apprehensive
about a possible sting operation on the Congress' fund raising activities.
Keen that no one in the party was caught taking money, she instructed
AICC treasurer Motilal Vora to take necessary precautions. Vora even had
a two-page note prepared to explain to the press how the AICC went about
its business. The party needs a crore of rupees every month to pay its
staff as well as meet the expenses of 10 Janpath. Which was why Sonia
and her new team of managers-K. Natwar Singh in particular-have been working
overtime to give the party a kosher image. As part of this effort, they
set up a panel under Manmohan Singh to identify ''clean'' ways to raise
resources.
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V.S. Koujalagi, ex-KPCC Chief
CHARGES: A bribery case pending before Lokayukta becomes a scandal
once again as a spy cam catches him in the act.
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Sonia's problems do not end with easing out George,
placing excessive reliance on the mild-mannered AICC General Secretary
Ambika Soni or merely broadening her coterie of consultants. Senior leaders
admit that Tehelka by itself could not bring the party to power. It needs
to build caste and other socio-political alliances. It is on this count
that the party flounders. Every leader is dogmatic about the right and
the wrong path. Says a leader: ''Today the Congress is not identified
with any particular ideology. If our chief ministers are backing privatisation,
central leaders are calling for a ban. We are now espousing privatisation
on a case-by-case basis without specifying any criteria. We certainly
need Pachmarhi II.''
Tehelka had meant advantage Congress, but not
conclusively. For, as usual, much of the energies of partymen are focused
on what they are best at: jostling for power within the organisation.
For instance, the easing out of George has provoked a fierce demonstration
of loyalties. If some chief ministers, PCC chiefs and MPs made special
trips to Delhi to urge Sonia to recall George from leave, old war-horses
such as R.K. Dhawan and M.L. Fotedar joined hands with Soni to ensure
that the beleaguered private secretary is kept out of 10 Janpath. Party
politics once again takes precedence over BJP bashing.
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