Unity bid in Congress

By Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR, NOV. 17. Paying heed to the party high command's directives, the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president, Mr. Amarsinh Chaudhary, called on the veteran leader, Mr. Madhavsinh Solanki, here last night, in a bid to narrow down the differences between the two factions in the State party.

Ostensibly, it was a courtesy call by Mr. Chaudhary to exchange greetings for Deepavali and the Hindu New Year day, the biggest annual festival in the State, with Mr. Solanki, but the party leaders hope that this could develop into a significant step to break the thaw in the State party.

It was the first one-to-one meeting between the two senior leaders of the party in about three years since Mr. Solanki was denied the party ticket for a third stint in the Rajya Sabha in 1998 and the veteran leader blamed it on the then AICC treasurer, Mr. Ahmed Patel.

Mr. Solanki's return to Gandhinagar after a gap of more than a decade when the veteran leader was serving various stints in the AICC, gave rise to intense groupism in the State party with most other groups joining hands in support of Mr. Patel against the Solanki faction.

The two-hour long meeting between Mr. Solanki and Mr. Chaudhary was not confined to mere exchange of greetings. They also discussed various issues facing the State party such as mobilisation of the rank and file to prepare for the next Assembly elections (due in February, 2003) and the strategy the party should adopt to challenge the Chief Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, as and when he contests an Assembly byelection in the next five months to enter the House.

They discussed the possibility of Mr. Modi fielding himself from some constituency in Junagadh district to get elected unanimously with the help of some BJP-sympathetic mafia groups.

To sooth the hurt feelings of Mr. Solanki that he was not consulted on party issues, Mr. Chaudhary discussed the problems in various panchayats, controlled by the Congress, and sought his advice to solve them. It was decided that the two should meet more frequently and sort out the party issues amicably.

The party sources believe that the meeting could prove to be a major step forward to bring about a unity among the warring factions in the State Congress when the party was well- poised to regain power in view of the declining popularity of the ruling BJP.

The party has realised the urgency to act quickly to reestablish unity in the rank and file in case Mr. Modi opted for a general election a year ahead of the schedule so as to coincide with the Uttar Pradesh elections as was being talked about in the BJP circles.

After the success of the Mehsana farmers' rally addressed by the party president, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, last week, she was believed to have directed the State leaders to sink the differences and stand united. The presence of Mr. Solanki on the dais with Mrs. Gandhi along with other leaders, which the veteran leader had been studiously avoiding for sometime, was indicative of the importance she attached to Mr. Solanki's leadership in the State.

At her instance, the AICC secretary and in-charge of Gujarat affairs, Mr. Kamal Nath, was making efforts to bring the rival factions together. For the first time, a standing committee of the party, in which all the senior group leaders including Mr. Solanki are members, was constituted a couple of months ago and it has already met once in Delhi and is scheduled to meet again sometime later this month to sort out controversial matters amicably.

The appointment, earlier this week by Mrs. Gandhi, of Mr. Naresh Raval, hitherto the chief whip of the Congress legislature party, as the Leader of the Opposition in place of Mr. Chaudhary with the strong Solanki-supporter, Mr. Udeysinh Baria, as his deputy, paved the way to break the thaw between the two factions.

The Solanki faction has welcomed Mr. Raval's appointment though it fell short of its expectation to install one from the group as the Leader of the Opposition enjoying a Cabinet Minister's rank.

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