Enemies within make PM's going tough

MUMBAI: It almost seems like the Congress is at war with itself. After succumbing to DMK pressure on disinvestment, the ruling party now finds itself more divided than the sundry alliance called the UPA. It’s no secret that Manmohan Singh is upset over his authority being undermined by most of his colleagues.

“Recent developments are due to a surge in factionalism within the party. It is a game of one upmanship in two camps trying to prove their proximity to 10 Janpath,” a highly placed Congressman told ET.

According to him, a group of ministers in the Cabinet are trying to discredit the Prime Minister on most major economic issues. “They always succeed in creating the ‘aam aadmi’ bogey in Sonia Gandhi’s mind,” he said. Afraid of losing the common man’s support, Ms Gandhi often gives in to their pressure.

Another Congress minister admitted that pressure from groups within the Congress, are a greater cause of concern than friction between the allies. “No one expects us to have control over alliance members. But as the ruling party we ought to have discipline within the party,” he said. All agree that Mr Singh’s image has taken a drubbing in the past few weeks.

“This is unfortunate for a man of his standing,” a Congressman said. According to him it all began with the anti-Singh group leaking Ms Gandhi’s letter to the PM on free trade agreements (FTAs) in April this year. In a letter dated April 12, Ms Gandhi had advised the government to ‘very carefully scrutinise’ the FTAs to protect farmers.

“In the first place, Ms Gandhi should not have written a letter to the PM when they meet every third day to discuss various matters. Having written it, the letter should not have been leaked out to the media,” the Congress leader said. This forced the Prime Minister to write back to Ms Gandhi in an effort to allay her fears.

The BJP and other opposition parties, while criticising the UPA over the issue, had said in Parliament that “Ms Gandhi could have conveyed her reservations over the telephone. It is public humiliation of the Prime Minister.”

A section of the Congress believe that Ms Gandhi’s office is being used by the anti-Singh group within the party. On the one hand, the Congress president Sonia Gandhi keeps sending missives in her capacity as head of the UPA, on the other Mr Singh finds half a dozen of his own cabinet colleagues, carrying out their own agenda irrespective of the Government stand.