07-11-2006, 01:29 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>10 Janpath rules, Sonia makes it clear to PM </b>
Pioneer.com
Yogesh Vajpeyi | New Delhi
Ignoring the protests of a sulking Prime Minister, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has decided to make it clear that it is 10 Janpath and not 7 Race Course Road that will determine the UPA Government's roadmap from now on.
After last Friday's core group meeting, which witnessed some sharp exchanges between the Government and the party, it has been decided that the group will meet more often to monitor Government policies, sources said.
<b>Sonia has also decided to appoint key people to ensure that the Government's decisions are in sync with the party line</b>. These appointments are likely to be made within a week, when Sonia revamps the All India Congress Committee (AICC), shifting some leaders from the organisation to gubernatorial posts.
As Raj Bhavans in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Tripura and Andaman and Nicobar Islands are awaiting fresh nominees, this will be a handy excuse for a reshuffle, Sonia's political managers feel.
<b>The move is likely to bring little cheer in the Prime Minister's camp, which is under constant attack from old hands like ML Fotedar, Arjun Singh and Ajit Jogi, who feel that they are being marginalised in Singh's dispensation.</b>
After Sonia's re-election, Jogi had even mobilised a group of party MPs to demand that Singh step down to allow Sonia to take charge. At that time, the Congress establishment had tried to show as if it had nothing to do with the move. But <b>old party watchers had predicted that it was beginning of a subtle campaign undermining Manmohan Singh's position and suspected that the move had Sonia's tacit support</b>.
Since then, many developments have taken place corroborating this impression. The first unmistakable indication that Sonia was not exactly happy with the UPA Government's working was when she wrote to the Prime Minister in April this year advising him to "very carefully scrutinise" India-ASEAN Free Trade agreement to safeguard the interest of Indian farmers.
<b>The confrontation neared flash point when the Manmohan Singh Government went ahead with the hike in fuel prices despite Sonia's disapproval. And the battle lines were drawn when the Prime Minister would not go for even a partial role back as suggested by Sonia. </b>
The issue of the complicated 4-page saral (easy) form issued by the Income Tax Department of the Finance Ministry proved another irritant. The party wanted it abolished but the Government only made it optional.
<b>This galvanised senior Congressmen like Fotedar, Arjun Singh and Jogi </b>into action and they stepped up their campaign against Singh by asking Sonia to convene a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to discuss the Government's handling of the spurt in the prices of essential commodities.
They were joined by Jairam Ramesh, AK Anthony and Digvijay Singh who felt the Government was ignoring the political imperatives of the party. In this backdrop, the CWC meet on prices virtually turned out into a stinging indictment of the Government.
Most of them dismissed Finance Minister P Chidambaram's elaborate defence of the Government's policies. Singh tried to back his Chidambaram but found no takers of his view.
The subsequent meetings of the AICC office-bearers and the Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled States did little to dispel the impression that the Manmohan Government was under scrutiny of those at the helm of affairs in the organisation.
Though the Congress Chief Ministers blamed a four-year-old order under Essential Commodities Act as the major hurdle in their efforts to contain prices, it was an indirect attack on the Centre for continuing the NDA policy even after the UPA Government's installation more than two years back.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pioneer.com
Yogesh Vajpeyi | New Delhi
Ignoring the protests of a sulking Prime Minister, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has decided to make it clear that it is 10 Janpath and not 7 Race Course Road that will determine the UPA Government's roadmap from now on.
After last Friday's core group meeting, which witnessed some sharp exchanges between the Government and the party, it has been decided that the group will meet more often to monitor Government policies, sources said.
<b>Sonia has also decided to appoint key people to ensure that the Government's decisions are in sync with the party line</b>. These appointments are likely to be made within a week, when Sonia revamps the All India Congress Committee (AICC), shifting some leaders from the organisation to gubernatorial posts.
As Raj Bhavans in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Tripura and Andaman and Nicobar Islands are awaiting fresh nominees, this will be a handy excuse for a reshuffle, Sonia's political managers feel.
<b>The move is likely to bring little cheer in the Prime Minister's camp, which is under constant attack from old hands like ML Fotedar, Arjun Singh and Ajit Jogi, who feel that they are being marginalised in Singh's dispensation.</b>
After Sonia's re-election, Jogi had even mobilised a group of party MPs to demand that Singh step down to allow Sonia to take charge. At that time, the Congress establishment had tried to show as if it had nothing to do with the move. But <b>old party watchers had predicted that it was beginning of a subtle campaign undermining Manmohan Singh's position and suspected that the move had Sonia's tacit support</b>.
Since then, many developments have taken place corroborating this impression. The first unmistakable indication that Sonia was not exactly happy with the UPA Government's working was when she wrote to the Prime Minister in April this year advising him to "very carefully scrutinise" India-ASEAN Free Trade agreement to safeguard the interest of Indian farmers.
<b>The confrontation neared flash point when the Manmohan Singh Government went ahead with the hike in fuel prices despite Sonia's disapproval. And the battle lines were drawn when the Prime Minister would not go for even a partial role back as suggested by Sonia. </b>
The issue of the complicated 4-page saral (easy) form issued by the Income Tax Department of the Finance Ministry proved another irritant. The party wanted it abolished but the Government only made it optional.
<b>This galvanised senior Congressmen like Fotedar, Arjun Singh and Jogi </b>into action and they stepped up their campaign against Singh by asking Sonia to convene a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to discuss the Government's handling of the spurt in the prices of essential commodities.
They were joined by Jairam Ramesh, AK Anthony and Digvijay Singh who felt the Government was ignoring the political imperatives of the party. In this backdrop, the CWC meet on prices virtually turned out into a stinging indictment of the Government.
Most of them dismissed Finance Minister P Chidambaram's elaborate defence of the Government's policies. Singh tried to back his Chidambaram but found no takers of his view.
The subsequent meetings of the AICC office-bearers and the Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled States did little to dispel the impression that the Manmohan Government was under scrutiny of those at the helm of affairs in the organisation.
Though the Congress Chief Ministers blamed a four-year-old order under Essential Commodities Act as the major hurdle in their efforts to contain prices, it was an indirect attack on the Centre for continuing the NDA policy even after the UPA Government's installation more than two years back.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->