Steering committee for Gujarat Cong.

By Our Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD, AUG. 2. In a significant development, a `steering committee' to supervise organisational matters has been formed in the Gujarat Pradesh Congress at the instance of the party's national president, Ms Sonia Gandhi.

The GPCC vice-president and party spokesman, Mr Hasmukh Patel, said here today that the six-member steering committee would take collective decisions in all organisational matters.

The committee includes all the prominent leaders representing diverse factions in the party to give a homogeneous look to the organisation. Besides the Pradesh Congress president, Mr. Amarsinh Chaudhary, the committee would include the former External Affairs Minister, Mr. Madhavsinh Solanki, the former AICC(I) treasurer, Mr. Ahmed Patel, the former Chief Minister, Mr. Shankarsinh Waghela, the former Union Minister, Ms Urmilaben Patel, and the AICC(I) secretary in-charge of Gujarat affairs, Mr. Kamal Nath.

While Mr. Solanki leads the sizeable Kshatriya group within the party, Mr. Waghela is the leader of the erstwhile Rashtriya Janata Party, Ms Patel of the hitherto Janata Dal (Gujarat) and Mr. Ahmed Patel the ``original'' Congressmen and the young leaders alike.

Political observers here attach significance to the formation of the committee which would not only stifle the ``monopoly'' of Mr. Chaudhary, who also is the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, but would also force him to keep all the factions together and help reduce dissatisfaction within the party at the grass-root level.

Meanwhile, the entire Opposition walked out of the Assembly during question hour today in protest against the ``failure'' of the government to provide adequate relief and rehabilitate the earthquake-hit people in Kutch district.

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Section  : Other States
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