When Congress president Sitaram Kesri pulled down the Gowda government by withdrawing Congress support, fear gripped senior Congress leaders that the low-caste Kesri would throw his hat in the ring for the top job of Congress president. Overnight a coup was organized and Sonia Gandhi was made Congress president. Kesri had been Congress treasurer for eighteen years with never the hint of a scandal. His son rode a rickety bicycle in Patna. What law of nature would have been violated if he had become prime minister?
