NEW DELHI: In an attempt to avert the defiant show of strength by the N.D. Tiwari group in Urtar Pradesh Congress by holding a ‘requisitioned’ PCC session on January 8, the Congress President, P.V. Narasimha Rao, last week appointed his Political Secretary, Jitendra Prasad, as the new state party unit chief.
Acting quickly Prasad announced at a press conference his decision to cancel the January 8 meeting being organized ostensibly to discuss the issue of the party’s continuing support to the Mulayam Singh Government Prasada, an arch rival of Tiwari in UP Congress, said that he would reconstitute thc Pradesh Congress Comminute (PCC) executive soon.
He said that he would seek to streamline the Congress in all the UP districts and launch a movement against corruption, casteism and communalism in the state. Accelerating the pace of the state’s development would be another priority, Prasad said.
The Tiwari camp, however, refused to give in and reiterated its decision to go ahead with the extraordinary PCC meet as per schedule. Gopinath Dikshit, officiating as the PCC chief after Tiwari’s resignation on December 31, said in Lucknow that a duly requisitioned meeting of the PCC which had the sanction of the party high command could neither be cancelled nor postponed. He invited Prasad to preside over the January 8 meeting.
Another prominent party leader in UP, Lokpati Tripathi, on the Other hand extended support to Prasad stating that the party men in the state should abide by the decision of the high command.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 13, 1995
