MUMBAI, January 15: The Maharashtra Congress appears to have put out feelers to Banwarilal Purohit, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) sitting MP from Nagpur, about the possibility of contesting the seat on a Congress ticket.According to sources in the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), ever since Purohit was denied a BJP ticket for his war against corruption and his campaign against party general secretary Pramod Mahajan, Congress leaders have sat up and taken notice of him.A senior Congress leader told The Indian Express
, ``There is a general feeling in the party that if Purohit approaches the Congress for a ticket, we must not deny it to him.''
In view of this, PCC president Ranjit Deshmukh who also hails from Nagpur, has been busy communicating with party cadres to test the waters vis-a-vis Purohit. The main concern for Congress leaders now is if Purohit's candidature might create problems in their own rank and file.
And the consensus being arrived at is that it will not.
Purohit's exemplary record and his contact with the masses as well as classes in Nagpur is said to be a point in his favour that is swaying the Congress leadership towards him.
Moreover, although there are several fresh faces in the Congress as well as old horses willing to contest the Nagpur seat, the party wishes to take advantage of Purohit's personal campaign against BJP heavyweights in the State as well as the mileage it will get from swinging The Hitavada, the newspaper Purohit edits, which is the major regional daily in the area.
Moreover, Purohit was a Congress MP for two terms and does not have a record of contretemps with any Congress leader in the State or the Centre. He swayed to the BJP over the Ramjanmabhoomi issue and the consensus is that there should be no problem in readmitting him.
An MPCC executive from the region said,``I received a call from Deshmukh yesterday and his chief concern was if we could snatch the Nagpur seat this time with Purohit on our side. We have agreed that his
could be an ideal candidature.''
The Nagpur seat is a contentious one this time round for the Congress, both in terms of the number of partymen eyeing the seat as well as the demand from the Dalit parties for it in their seat adjustments with the Congress.
However, Maratha chieftain Sharad Pawar is not in a mood to give away the seat to allies on the ground that the Congress candidate polled more than two lakh votes here in 1996 and was the runner-up behind Purohit.
With Purohit running against the BJP he is said to have computerised details on hand vis-a-vis alleged corruption among Shiv Sena-BJP Ministers in the Maharashtra Government, ready to be used as campaign ammunition -- the equation appears to have switched for the better in Congress' favour.
``If Purohit does not contest on our ticket, he might on Shankersinh Vaghela's Rashtriya Janata Party ticket. Even so, he will still be on our side, considering our seat adjustments with the RJP in Gujarat. Moreover, BJP's choice of candidate here is
extremely poor. And we hope to cash in on the insult to Purohit by the BJP: His resignation was turned down only to be humiliated at the time of ticket distribution,'' a Youth Congress leader from the region said.
Moreover, Purohit's acquiescence in the Congress game plan, combined with the re-entry of BJP sitting MP from Beed Rajni Patil, Congress leaders feel, would give them tremendous psychological advantage vis-a-vis the BJP-led alliance in the State. ``Vidarbha is set to see an improvement in our performance. And the treatment meted out to Purohit has virtually given us the Nagpur seat,'' boasted another Congress worker.
It helps that there are rumours that Purohit was seeking an audience with Sonia Gandhi: And he has not yet been turned down.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
