Fence sitters in Congress under watch

Insiders say party keeping tabs on those sporting Congress colours but singing MNS tune

Senior Congress leaders these days wince when they hear Raj Thackeray's name. It seems he has been having quite an impact on a lot of young Marathi Congressmen, and several of them have been spotted at various MNS functions where he has been present.

These fence-sitting Congress workers have been seen clapping at Thackeray's 'sons of the soil' rhetoric.
"We are aware of a campaign launched by the MNS against the Congress," said Congress spokesman Anant Gadgil. "We have also noted that some Congress supporters are seen at MNS functions, but we are sure they are not so naive as to be misled."

A senior Congressman said the party had started keeping tabs on fence sitters who still attend Congress functions but quietly sing the MNS sons-of-the-soil tune on the side.

He said a number of such workers had been spotted regularly attending Thackeray's political meetings.

Registrations hit
To make matters worse, registration of new active Congress workers in the state has been poor this time and the MNS has been cited as the reason behind the phenomenon.

Special meeting
This made the office-bearers of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) pull up the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) officials five days ago and make them convene a special meeting in Mumbai yesterday to plan how to increase the Congress membership.

"Fence-sitting young Congress workers, swayed by Raj's rhetoric, are feeling closer to the MNS than the Congress," said another senior Congressman. "Hence, the registration of Congress workers has been low."

The leader also said the MNS was actively involved in wooing Congressmen. "MNS used to create divisions among common people on the basis of Marathi language. Now it is happening in the Congress too," said the leader. "A whispering campaign has been launched by the MNS in the Congress rank and file, who are told they do not have a future in the anti-Maharashtrian Congress."

He added that to woo Congress workers, the MNS was dwelling on the fact that of the six MPs in Mumbai, five were non-Maharashtrians, as was the case with the lone city MP. "The fence-sitters are brainwashed by the MNS, which tells them how non-Marathi Mumbai MPs Milind Deora (Rajasthani), Murli Deora (Rajasthani), Priya Dutt (Punjabi), Sanjay Nirupam (Bihari) and Gurudas Kamath (Karwari) are at the helm of affairs," said the leader. "In the city, MP Suresh Kalmadi and party district president Abhay Chhajed are non-Marathi."

MNS speaks
Shirish Parkar, spokesman of MNS, said, "In Mumbai, some of the non-Maharashtrian Congress MPs speak Marathi fluently, while some still don't. But when it comes to taking a stand on the core Marathi issue, their loyalty leans towards the state where their roots are."

MPCC spokesperson and Congress MLC Sanjay Nirupam said, "It is true the registrations of Congress workers this time was lower, but it has nothing to do with the MNS. The low figure is because of three very important events, the Lok Sabha elections, assembly polls and government formation, taking place in quick succession. The party workers did not get time for registration."