08-27-2004, 01:23 AM
Article in Asian Age...
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Congress clique whispers against PM
- By Seema Mustafa and Venkatesh Kesari
New Delhi, Aug. 26: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is under considerable pressure from within his own Congress Party, which has systematically refused to give him a special status within the organisation.<b> Instead, he is the target of a whisper campaign with senior leaders insisting in off-the-record briefings that Congress president Sonia Gandhi is the undisputed leader of the party and "no one should forget it."</b>
Senior Congress leaders make no secret of the fact that the Prime Minister is in place only because of Mrs Sonia Gandhi. "She is our leader and the only one capable of leading the party into the elections, she can get the votes," is the Congress view that has been aired repeatedly by leaders close to the party president. <b>Dr Manmohan Singh, while Prime Minister, is "just another leader" in the party, with the AICC having anointed Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi as the second in command after his mother. </b>Old Congress leaders expressed concern about the manner in which the Prime Minister was sidelined at the AICC. Slogans for Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi rent the air, while Dr Manmohan Singh received only passing mention in the speeches that focused on the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. <b>He himself spoke at length but as a senior MP pointed out, "many workers walked out while he was speaking and no one tried to stop them." Mrs Sonia Gandhi made the necessary references to the Prime Minister of India who was, however, made aware by the party that he was in office because of Mrs Sonia Gandhi and not because of support within the Congress organisation.
Senior Congress ministers in the government had initially refused to consult Dr Manmohan Singh, sending their senior officials to the PMO instead, but this problem has been settled to some extent by regular Cabinet and sub-cabinet committee meetings. </b>The Prime Minister has acquired a say in government functioning and, for instance, has refused to clear the replacement of BJP nominees in bodies like the NHRC, Minorities and Womenâs Commissions. He has also been taking keen interest in transfers and postings of senior bureaucrats and has a good say in the functioning of the economic ministries and the Planning Commission. <b>At the same time, apart from financial matters, he has not been given a single political issue to handle, with foreign policy, saffronisation of education, Pota and the Northeast remaining strictly within the jurisdiction of the relevant ministries.</b>
While some Congress leaders have no hesitation in questioning the Prime Ministerâs standing within the party, others point to a "good understanding" between him and Mrs Sonia Gandhi.<b> "She looks after the political matters and he after the government matters," is the argument, although there is no explanation from any quarter as to how this works out in actual practice. The ministers continue to report to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, keeping her informed of major decisions. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also briefs her regularly every week officially, and "every day" informally. "She is our leader, he is her representative," was probably the most eloquent summing up of the Gandhi-Singh relationship by a Congress leader who is not a MP.</b> Senior ministers call regularly not just on the party president but also on her political secretary Ahmed Patel.
The Prime Minister, according to party leaders, has no say, or at least no more say than any other senior leader in party affairs. <b>Mr Rahul Gandhi is the second leader, with Dr Manmohan Singh now functioning as a Prime Minister who is in power so long as he enjoys the confidence of Mrs Sonia Gandhi. He has accepted this role, according to insiders, as he knows that he "owes his position to her."</b> The Congress, under its astute managers, has not rallied around the Prime Minister to build him up within the organisation. In the current standoff between him and the NDA, the Congress Party and senior minister Pranab Mukherjee have come to the defence of the government and Dr Manmohan Singh.
<b>If insiders are to be believed, ambitious Congress ministers have a "hidden" agenda and they are working accordingly. They want to show that they are more efficient and can lead the coalition comfortably. In fact, the stalemate between the government and the NDA in Parliament could have been easily broken, but the confrontation would serve their purpose sooner or later, sources said.</b>
While there was a design in the floor mismanagement, the controversy over cleansing the administration of Sangh Parivar sympathisers, the Manipur crisis and Veer Savarkar and Uma Bharti issues are said to be test balloons to see how Dr Manmohan Singh would tackle them.
Although a section of the Congress is blaming Mrs Gandhiâs so-called managers over their failure to break the NDA, party leaders feel that even the UPA could not be a strong alternative to the BJP-led front unless the Congress president establishes personal rapport with her UPA allies and the leaders of supporting parties.
"Soniaji should talk to Karunanidhi, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, A.B. Bardhan, Lalu Prasad Yadav and even Sharad Pawar individually and involve them in the decision-making process," viewed a senior party leader and added that periodic meetings of the UPA and the Left are meant for the public consumption.
<b>However, AICC sources blamed the Prime Minister for his non-political approach. "He should call the AICC functionaries over a cup of tea and interact just like Atalji. Even Soniaji would not mind," said a CWC member.</b>
But the party leaders and ministers are clear about who is the real leader. "People would vote for Soniaji and not Manmohan Singh after five years," sources said.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Congress clique whispers against PM
- By Seema Mustafa and Venkatesh Kesari
New Delhi, Aug. 26: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is under considerable pressure from within his own Congress Party, which has systematically refused to give him a special status within the organisation.<b> Instead, he is the target of a whisper campaign with senior leaders insisting in off-the-record briefings that Congress president Sonia Gandhi is the undisputed leader of the party and "no one should forget it."</b>
Senior Congress leaders make no secret of the fact that the Prime Minister is in place only because of Mrs Sonia Gandhi. "She is our leader and the only one capable of leading the party into the elections, she can get the votes," is the Congress view that has been aired repeatedly by leaders close to the party president. <b>Dr Manmohan Singh, while Prime Minister, is "just another leader" in the party, with the AICC having anointed Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi as the second in command after his mother. </b>Old Congress leaders expressed concern about the manner in which the Prime Minister was sidelined at the AICC. Slogans for Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi rent the air, while Dr Manmohan Singh received only passing mention in the speeches that focused on the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. <b>He himself spoke at length but as a senior MP pointed out, "many workers walked out while he was speaking and no one tried to stop them." Mrs Sonia Gandhi made the necessary references to the Prime Minister of India who was, however, made aware by the party that he was in office because of Mrs Sonia Gandhi and not because of support within the Congress organisation.
Senior Congress ministers in the government had initially refused to consult Dr Manmohan Singh, sending their senior officials to the PMO instead, but this problem has been settled to some extent by regular Cabinet and sub-cabinet committee meetings. </b>The Prime Minister has acquired a say in government functioning and, for instance, has refused to clear the replacement of BJP nominees in bodies like the NHRC, Minorities and Womenâs Commissions. He has also been taking keen interest in transfers and postings of senior bureaucrats and has a good say in the functioning of the economic ministries and the Planning Commission. <b>At the same time, apart from financial matters, he has not been given a single political issue to handle, with foreign policy, saffronisation of education, Pota and the Northeast remaining strictly within the jurisdiction of the relevant ministries.</b>
While some Congress leaders have no hesitation in questioning the Prime Ministerâs standing within the party, others point to a "good understanding" between him and Mrs Sonia Gandhi.<b> "She looks after the political matters and he after the government matters," is the argument, although there is no explanation from any quarter as to how this works out in actual practice. The ministers continue to report to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, keeping her informed of major decisions. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also briefs her regularly every week officially, and "every day" informally. "She is our leader, he is her representative," was probably the most eloquent summing up of the Gandhi-Singh relationship by a Congress leader who is not a MP.</b> Senior ministers call regularly not just on the party president but also on her political secretary Ahmed Patel.
The Prime Minister, according to party leaders, has no say, or at least no more say than any other senior leader in party affairs. <b>Mr Rahul Gandhi is the second leader, with Dr Manmohan Singh now functioning as a Prime Minister who is in power so long as he enjoys the confidence of Mrs Sonia Gandhi. He has accepted this role, according to insiders, as he knows that he "owes his position to her."</b> The Congress, under its astute managers, has not rallied around the Prime Minister to build him up within the organisation. In the current standoff between him and the NDA, the Congress Party and senior minister Pranab Mukherjee have come to the defence of the government and Dr Manmohan Singh.
<b>If insiders are to be believed, ambitious Congress ministers have a "hidden" agenda and they are working accordingly. They want to show that they are more efficient and can lead the coalition comfortably. In fact, the stalemate between the government and the NDA in Parliament could have been easily broken, but the confrontation would serve their purpose sooner or later, sources said.</b>
While there was a design in the floor mismanagement, the controversy over cleansing the administration of Sangh Parivar sympathisers, the Manipur crisis and Veer Savarkar and Uma Bharti issues are said to be test balloons to see how Dr Manmohan Singh would tackle them.
Although a section of the Congress is blaming Mrs Gandhiâs so-called managers over their failure to break the NDA, party leaders feel that even the UPA could not be a strong alternative to the BJP-led front unless the Congress president establishes personal rapport with her UPA allies and the leaders of supporting parties.
"Soniaji should talk to Karunanidhi, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, A.B. Bardhan, Lalu Prasad Yadav and even Sharad Pawar individually and involve them in the decision-making process," viewed a senior party leader and added that periodic meetings of the UPA and the Left are meant for the public consumption.
<b>However, AICC sources blamed the Prime Minister for his non-political approach. "He should call the AICC functionaries over a cup of tea and interact just like Atalji. Even Soniaji would not mind," said a CWC member.</b>
But the party leaders and ministers are clear about who is the real leader. "People would vote for Soniaji and not Manmohan Singh after five years," sources said.
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