Vaghela tries to win back Kesri

"Only God can decide my future," said Gujarat Chief Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela.

Ten days after the Rashtriya Janata Party supremo made the statement, he was virtually to forced to eat his words -- rather accept Congress president Sitaram Kesri as his new god.

Sources, however, said that the chief minister never had any misgivings in this regard -- the ''old man in a hurry'' has always been his saviour -- even as rumour mills worked overtime about the fate of Vaghela's government.

The Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee has stepped up the campaign for his ouster, and Kesri sent a three-member team led by Pranab Mukherjee last week to find out if it was safe to pull the rug from under Vaghela.

Strengthening the suspicion was Vaghela's New Delhi visit on Friday, when he called on Kesri and offered a political package which includes forming a co-ordination committee of the two parties.

Vaghela perhaps thinks the ''clever move'', intended to sort out differences that may crop up in future, will save his government. But the state Congress leaders refuse to accept a future with the rebel BJP man at the helm.

The mutual distrust between the Congress and the RJP is as old as the alliance of convenience itself. The first conflict arose when Vaghela decided to contest from Randhanpur constituency, a Congress stronghold. The Congress desperately needed the seat, and thought of fighting Vaghela. But the party had to give up the seat in favour of Vaghela.

There are other complaints, too. Congress's Gujarat unit general secretary Arvind Sanghvi said, "Vaghela never consults us before taking major decisions, including the Urban Land Ceiling Act. He has taken our support for granted.... It is not we who need Vaghela. It is Vaghela who needs us."

Congress Legislature Party leader Amarsinh Chaudhary echoed similar feelings. Despite his repeated warnings against taking the Congress for granted, the chief minister had paid little heed.

Rubbing salt on the power-starved Congress leaders's wounds were Vaghela's words: if Kesri withdraws support to his government, he would seek a mid-term poll.

''If the Congress wants to withdraw support, it should tell the governor and this kind of thing (threat) will not work,'' the chief minister said.

"Vaghela is blackmailing us,'' said a senior Congress party functionary. ''What he is trying to tell us is that, if we withdraw support, the BJP would come to power."

In a 180-strong assembly, Vaghela's RJP has 45 seats. He needs the support of 45 Congress legislators besides seven independents. The BJP has 76 MLAs.

But the Congress seeks to present a brave front. "In the local by-elections, we have improved our tally and are now neck and neck with the BJP. So, why should we support Vaghela?" said Sanghvi.

Gujarat Congress vice-president Hasmukhlal Patel goes a step further. "In the last election, we lost 45 seats by a margin of less than 2,500 votes. Ever since, the Congress has been making deeper inroads.... We are ready for the elections."

Does it imply that the Congress will not have any truck with the RJP in case of mid-term elections? "It is up to the party high command to decide," he said.

And the desperate Gujarat Congress leaders have to wait till September 27 for the decision, when the Congress Working Committee meeting will discuss Vaghela's future.