Reshuffle likely in U.P. Cong. Committee

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 21. An organisational reshuffle in the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) is on the cards. The AICC leadership is busy giving the final touches to its reorganization plan and an announcement is expected within the next couple of days.

Though the move has been on the cards, it was held up for quite some time. With the new team of AICC office-bearers, as also the CWC and the Central Election Committee in place, the leadership has now turned its attention to the Pradesh Congress Committees.

The process of cleaning up and revitalising the PCC has been set in motion with the appointment of Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad as the general-secretary in charge of the State. He has been given the responsibility of putting together a new team, one which would lead the party in the Assembly elections expected later in the year.

Though Mr. Sriprakash Jaisawal is expected to continue as the PCC chief, other office-bearers are likely to be changed. At present, most office-bearers are from the upper castes. The party leadership wants the PCC to include representatives of the minorities, Dalits, OBCs and women in keeping with its promise.

The Congress has been trying hard to woo back Dalits and minorities into its fold but not one representative from these sections holds any important position at the State level. While Mr. Jaiswal belongs to the Bania community, the CLP leader, Mr. Pramod Tewari, the Mahila Congress chief, Mrs. Ranjana Bajpai, and the Youth Congress chief, Mr. S.P. Goswami, are Brahmins. The NSUI is headed by Mr. Subodh Srivastava, a kayasth.

The leadership realises that the party faces an uphill task. Though the Assembly elections are still months away, the party wants to set its house in order to be able to mount a challenge at the hustings.

It has already suffered due to desertions, the latest one being that of the Hydergarh MLA, Mr. Surendranath Awasthi, who vacated his seat for the Chief Minister, Mr. Rajnath Singh. The leadership is keen on accommodating prominent followers of the late Jitendra Prasada to give the PCC a composite look and bring about a semblance of unity in the party.

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Section  : National
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