29 May 2002
CONG TO FIGHT FOR NARAYANAN'S
PRESIDENCY
From Jal Khambata
NEW DELHI:
The Congress has gone on record now: it wants K R Narayanan to
continue in the Rashtrapati Bhawan for another five years.
It
was just holding back public declaration of its choice to confirm
first from Narayanan if he were ready for the second term and hence
it withheld its stand when the left parties called for re-electing
Narayanan.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi called on Narayanan
on Tuesday and returned satisfied that he does not want to
retire.
And, so party spokesman Anand Sharma went on record on
Wednesday at the AICC Press briefing to declare: "The Congress
is in favour of second term to Narayanan and he told the Congress
President that he has an open mind."
He went on further
to state that "Narayanan has been excellent President and the
Congress President has extended the Congress support to him"
during their Tuesday meeting.
The Congress is now itching for
a fight with the Government if the latter says "no" to
Narayanan and fields anybody else.
Sonia Gandhi is reported to
have persuaded Narayanan not to back out even if there is a contest,
telling him how the number game is in his favour.
The BJP-led
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) certainly have a majority in the
Lok Sabha but the electoral college of the President is not confined
to just the members of the Lok Sabha.
The voters are MPs of
both the Houses of Parliament and MLAs of all the states and so the
Congress is confident that it being in power in 14 states and the
left parties in two states besides the Opposition in majority in the
Rajya Sabha, the government candidate is bound to lose.
Anand
pointed out that the Prime Minister has not yet officially
communicated any name to Sonia Gandhi but the "inspired reports"
circulated by the official circles after their last meeting show the
government's intent. Obviously, he was indicating that the Government
is unhappy with Narayanan and so it has been floating the name of
Maharashtra Governor P C Alexander.
All the same, the Congress
has now opened its card by backing Narayanan and it now awaits the
Government to show its hand before stating anything on record on a
contest for the highest post in the country. The BJP is officially
not saying anything, pleading that the decision has to be taken by
the NDA as a whole and not by one party.
And, if the
President's post is to become a matter of confrontation, so will it
be the post of the Vice-President as well. So far, Vice-President
Krishna Kant has, however, not found any side, either Government or
Congress, pressing for the second term to him. END