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| Narasimha Rao defeated Fotedar-Arjun Singh duo | | Alexander reveals the hidden secret | |
BL KAK
NEW DELHI, FEB 25
The untold story now told by PC Alexander, former Governor and Principal Secretary to Indira Gandhi, is worth reading for the principal characters divided in two groups, one led by the then Prime Minister, PV Narasimha Rao, and the other by Makhan Lal Fotedar-Arjun Singh duo. And if Fotedar, Kashmiri Pandit strategist, and Arjun Singh, crafty Thakur from Madhya Pradesh, made desperate attempts to clip Narasimha Rao's wings, the final victor was none other than Rao himself, who succesfully upset his rivials' apple-cart.
PC Alexander is widely known for his proximity to the Nehru-Gandhi family. No wonder, he made it a point to be on New Delhi on May 23, 1991 to pay homage to the assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi whose mortal remains had been brought to the Indian capital from Chennai (Tamil Nadu) the previous day. Alexander says that he met PV Narasimha Rao at his residence at 9 pm on May 23.
The meeting was in response to a message from Narasimha Rao, calling for a meeting with him (Alexander). Writes Alexander: "I had been close to Narasimha Rao ever since I joined the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in 1981 and we had been in regular contact with eac other even after I left the PMO". Quite an interesting revelation by Alexander: "I met Narasimha Rao at his residence at 9 pm on May 23 and he then told me that since Sonia Gandhi had made known her disinclination toi be Congress president, I should start assessing the reaction of certain senior Congress leaders to his being elected as president unanimously".
Revelation number two: PC Alexander had already come to known from his contacts with some Congress leaders that Arjun Singh was the person most likely to stake his claim for the post of Congress president. At at point of time Makhan Lal Fotedar whom Alexander had known very closely from his (Alexander's) PMO days, had become the key spokesman of the group supporting Arjun Singh.
Revelation number three: Again on May 23, 1991, late in the night, Alexander had a long talk with Makhan Lal Fotedar. Alexander found that he strategy of the pro-Arjun Singh group was to restrict Narasimha Rao to only one of the two senior posts, Congress president or Prime Minister, on the principle of one man one post. Fotedar told Alexander that he group supporting Arjun Singh would be happy to support Narasimha Rao for election as Congress president, but that it expected Rao's support for Arjun Singh's election as vice-president of the party, a post which was to be newly created.
Revelation number four by Alexander: "When I discussed this with Rao the next morning (May 24) he told me that here would be no objection from his side to the proposal if a consensus would be reached within the party on it. With that, the issue of creating a new post of vice-president to accommodate Arjun Singh got practically shelved. Rao was elected as Congress president and from June 3, 1991 he was fully engaged in the campaign in support of Congress candidates in the States where elctions to the Lok Sabha had yet to be conducted".
A new situation arose for Narasimha Rao after the results of the Lok Sabha polls were out by the middle of June 1991. Alexander's revelation number five: Sharad Pawar's supporters, after the Congress in Maharashtra had secured 37 seats of the 48 seats the State had in the Lok Sabha, pressed a claim that he should be elected as the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP). Pawar, who arrived in Delhi on June 17, had not called on Narasimha Rao. This creatred misgivings in Rao's mind about Pawar becoming his main rival for election as CPP leader.
Makhan Lal Fotedar had, in the meanwhile, again become, to quote Alexander, "very active as the chief negotiator on behalf of the group supporting Arjun Singh". Alaxender's revelation number six: Alexander had several meetings with Fotedar on June 14 and 15. Fotedar's latest proposal was that Arjun Singh should be the Congress president and Narasimha Rao the leader of the CPP on the principle of one man one post. Narasimha Rao was shrewd enough to sense the danger of a possible agreement being reached between Arjun Singh and Sharad Pawar for sharing the two top posts between them, edging him out of the scene.
Narasimha Rao then played an ace political trick. According to Alexander, Rao indicated his willingness to give up the post of Congress president if that would ensure his unanimous election as CPP leader. However, he insited that the person elected in his palce as Congress president should be one acceptable to him. Alexander's revelation number seven: "When I conveyed this to Fotedar he said that Narasimha Rao should make an early announcement of his willingness to step down as Congress president accepting the one man one post principle. Rao said he had no objection to making such a statement but he himself will decide on its timing".
Sharad Pawar changed his plan after Narasimha Rao's offer of a berth in his Council of Ministers. Pawar, during his meeting with Rao on June 20, assured the latter of his unconditional support for his election as CPP leader. Thus, the claims put forward by Arjun Singh's supporters for the post of Congress president or of vice-president were, to quote Alexander, "quietly put on the back burner". In plain language, it meant defeat for Arjun Singh and Makhan Lal Fotedar.
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