NEW DELHI: As the Congress organizational-election draw to close after nearly three months of bitter wrangling at all levels throughout the country all speculation about who will be the next Congress president appears to have died down. P.V. Narasimha Rao will be confirmed in his post if he agrees and his health permits according to almost all sections in the AICC.

The move of some senior Congress leaders to get a president from the northern states has triggered a lot of debate in party circles. The only leader who went public with this feeling was BP Maurya from UP and that evoked unfavorable comments from the MPs who hail from the southern states.

To get over this problem a section of the party is also examining whether the institution of vice-president of the party should be reintroduced. The party constitution will have to be amended if someone is to be appointed to this post.

At the organization elections which are being held after a gap of 20 years in the 107-year-old party enters a decisive phase reports reaching here reveal a keen contest in several places. Narasimha Rao had to depute his senior colleagues such as Balran Jakhar HKL Bhagat Rajesh Flot GK Moopanar and others to resolve local disputes as the bickering could not be stopped.

 

If the former union minister Mohsina Kidwal had to organize a crowd at the AICC headquarters her successor in the cabinet Sheila Kaul too is unhappy with the elections. Her daughter Deepa a former UP minister ever organized a dharna at the party office to get some of her supporters inducted into the PCC list.

In UP the contest for the party president ship is so keen that the party high command has informally appointed a three-member pane! comprising H.K.L-Bhaga C.K Jaffar Sharief and Santosh Moban Dev to sort out the leader ship issue Meanwhile Lokpati Tropathi has declared in Lucknow that he is going to contest the UPCC presidents post. The announcement shocked Rajendra Kumar Bajpais faction. An urgent meeting was held at her residence attended by current UPCC president Mahabir Prasad and some other leaders feel threatened by Lokpatis decision. The Pande brothers of Varanasi Sukhakar Pande and Ralnakar Pande among them.

Article extracted from this publication >> February 21, 1992