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Rajiv Shukla

Gujral thought Kesri alone could save him from Deve Gowda's fate. That was his undoing

There is no doubt that the Congress did not get anything out of the Gujral government during its eight months.

But I K Gujral got plenty from the Congress. He and his ministers got to rule the country for another eight months after Deve Gowda's ouster. Congressmen were insulted, humiliated and isolated. During the Deve Gowda regime, there were some Congress politicians like Sachidanand Swamy, Murli Deora, Santosh Mohan Deb, R K Dhawan and Sharad Pawar who had lots of clout with the prime minister. But Gujral gave none of the Congress MPs any importance.

When Kesri pulled the rug from under Deve Gowda, he assured that the dignity of Congress workers would be restored and Congressmen could walk with their heads high. And Gujral spoke loudly praising Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi in the beginning. But later, it was found that he took all his decisions on the advice of people who hate the Congress.

Gujral believed the only man important was Kesri. So he gave weightage only to Chacha. The rest were completely ignored. He went after the party chief unashamedly. He thought Kesri alone could save him from Deve Gowda's fate. Despite the fact that Congress gains strength from 10, Janpath, Gujral did not even bother to visit Sonia Gandhi. That way, Deve Gowda was more clever -- he paid several visits to 10, Janpath. In fact, Sonia was not so against Deve Gowda as was made out by the media. She did not like the humble farmer's proximity with Narasimha Rao. That was all.

If you talk to any Congress MP, they feel totally let down by the Gujral government. No United Front minister gave any importance to any Congress MP. They were more 'favourable' to the BJP MPs. For most UF ministers, a word from Somnath Chatterjee, A B Bardhan and Sharad Yadav was more important than from, say, Pranab Mukherjee, Jitendra Prasada or Sharad Pawar. UF ministers did not even listen to Congress general secretary Tariq Anwar on several matters!

Congress leaders think that Gujral only concentrated in rehabilitating his friends. All the eight members to Rajya Sabha under the Presidential quota were decided by Gujral. He did not pay any attention to the names suggested by the Congress. He appointed his three friends as ambassadors in various countries, and did not consider the names of Congressmen like Natwar Singh and Mani Shankar Aiyar.

Gujral appointed two of his cronies as governors and got his family friend Krishna Kant made the vice-president of India. Everyone now know that Najma Heptullah would have proved much better than the dull Krishna Kant. Najma's claim was ignored by the Gujral-Kesri duo because Krishna Kant was Gujral's friend from Lahore and had as his biggest qualification strong anti-Indira Gandhi feelings!

Worse, I know for a fact that Kesri asked Gujral to consult the Congress before appointing the Prasar Bharati board. But Gujral did not bother to do so. He hurriedly filled all the posts with anti-Congress people except Abid Hussein. He took care of his old cronies while constituting the board.

Congressmen think that Kesri supported Gujral till the last moment because of certain court cases against him. But I do not subscribe to that theory as none of these cases had any substance.

What Gujral was interested in was his own agenda, his own position. For which, he thought, the only Congressman he needed was Chacha Kesri. Ultimately, that proved to be his undoing. And landed him -- and the country -- in its dirtiest ever political mess.

Rajiv Shukla