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Congress stalwarts jittery, candidate list postponed

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

The Congress party has once again delayed the announcement of its list of candidates. The delay was caused because certain senior politicians were unhappy with the constituencies allotted to them and were pressing the high command for a change.

Congress spokesman and senior Supreme Court advocate Kapil Sibal admitted that differences exist in the allotment of constituencies. "I will be frank with you," he said. "Due to some of the party's senior leaders wanting different constituencies, at 12 midnight yesterday [Friday/Saturday], we decided to postpone the release of the list."

The senior politicians who are seeking a change of constituency include general secretary Madhavrao Scindia, considered to be close to party president Sonia Gandhi. Scindia represented Gwalior in the twelfth Lok Sabha, a city that his ancestors ruled until a few decades ago.

It is also believed that party spokesman Ajit Jogi, who is a tribal politician representing Bastar, is seeking a change of constituency. Both Gwalior and Bastar are in Madhya Pradesh, ruled by a Congress government headed by Digvijay Singh.

Similarly, many other politicians who are wary of taking on Bharatiya Janata Party stalwarts in the election, are pressing for 'safer' constituencies. The BJP has already released its first list.

It is also reliably learnt that former finance minister Manmohan Singh will be contesting the 1999 general election, though from where is not yet clear. Earlier reports said the party was trying to persuade Dr Singh to contest the South Delhi seat, a bastion of the middle class in the national capital.

At present, Singh, a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, represents Assam in the Rajya Sabha. Seen as an honest technocrat in a field awash with dishonest politicians, the architect of India's economic liberalisation is believed to be the darling of the middle classes.

There have also been rumours, though unsubstantiated, that in the event of the Congress winning a majority, Sonia Gandhi will nominate Singh as prime minister. Both Singh and Sonia Gandhi have denied these rumours.

Meanwhile, the Congress continued with its scathing attacks on the BJP government over the so-called telecom scandal. "According to our information, the government has been paid about Rs 500 million to bail out the telecom operators," said Sibal. He also questioned the propriety of the government's decision to convert the licence agreement into a revenue-sharing arrangement, which cost the government Rs 25 billion in licence fees.

The BJP struck back with a vengeance when it pointed out that senior Congress politician Pranab Mukherjee and 33 Congress Members of Parliament, had petitioned the government to bail out the telecom operators who were suffering heavy losses under the licence-fee system.

The BJP also denied the Congress claim of a court having passed strictures against the government on a public-interest petition on the matter. "No judgment against the government [on the telecom issue] has been passed by any court," said a BJP statement.

The BJP deplored the negative attitude of the Congress. "The Congress has shown that it will stoop to any level in its attempts to capture power and tell any amount of lies," said party spokeswoman Sushma Swaraj.

The BJP also blasted the Congress for questioning the integrity of Justice D P Wadhwa of the Supreme Court, whose report on the Staines murders has pinned the blame on an individual, Dara Singh, rather than an organisation.

Swaraj pooh-poohed the statement of Sonia Gandhi, who had declared in a brief television appearance: "They [the BJP] do not know the stuff I am made of."

"The people of the country know the stuff that she is made of!" riposted Swaraj. "What is her record of administrative experience, what is her record of service to the nation or her record of struggle?"

Making fun of the Congress president, Swaraj said: "She always reads from a piece of paper. God forbid that paper gets blown away, because then she will be a national embarrassment."

Swaraj reiterated the BJP's demand for a national debate between Vajpayee and Sonia Gandhi. "Let there be a debate between the two on issues such as development. Why is the Congress leader shirking it," she demanded.

Swaraj declared that the BJP's campaign would be positive, stressing on the party's achievements and asking the people to give the National Democratic Alliance, of which the BJP is a part, a complete majority to ensure five years of stability.

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