Gill: Congress surprise

New Delhi, March 16: After T.N. Seshan five years ago, it was the turn of his successor, M.S. Gill, to enter the political arena when the Congress today named him its Rajya Sabha nominee from Punjab.

While Seshan as a Congress nominee had failed to get the better of L.K. Advani in the battle for Gandhinagar in 1999, Gill’s fate may be better despite rumblings in chief minister Amarinder Singh’s camp.

Past midnight, the Congress high command sprang a surprise on Amarinder when the former chief election commissioner was named one of its three nominees for the biennial polls.

The Amarinder group of the faction-ridden state Congress is understood to have expressed its unhappiness over Gill’s “unexpected” choice as it believes he had had leanings towards the rival Akali Dal.

The chief minister’s camp would have preferred Congress general secretary Mohsina Kidwai, whose name was doing the rounds till yesterday. Residential status in the state concerned is no longer necessary for election to the Rajya Sabha following a recent amendment to the law.

The anti-Amarinder camp, however, vouched for Gill as an apolitical person. More important, they defended Gill’s introduction on the ground it would help the party improve its Lok Sabha prospects in Punjab, perceived to be not too good.

“Gill’s good image among the middle class will be a positive factor,” a senior party member said. The Congress leadership might also avail of the former IAS officer’s vast experience in poll management for its Lok Sabha campaign.

Party spokesman Kapil Sibal went on a counter-offensive against law minister Arun Jaitley’s contention that the Congress move raised doubts about Seshan and Gill’s objectivity when they were chief election commissioner.

“Once is an aberration, twice is a pattern,” Jaitley had said earlier in the day, virtually accusing the Congress of rewarding top officials appointed during its term in government.

“What about the BJP giving a Rajya Sabha ticket to a comptroller and auditor general soon after his retirement?” asked Sibal. “Did that CAG not give a report that became a political tool in the hands of the then Opposition led by the BJP?

He was obviously referring to T.N. Chaturvedi who is now the Karnataka governor.

The Congress also pointed a finger at the recent appointment of former CBI chief P.C. Sharma as a member of the National Human Rights Commission.

Gill, on the contrary, had retired three years ago, Sibal said, and nobody had ever accused him of favouring any party when he was in office.