Avoid AICC-PCC dual membership: Sonia

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI, JAN. 6. After a brief holiday in the Lakshadweep, the Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, has got down to the business at hand. Ms. Gandhi, in a significant move, today asked the PCCs to ensure that as far as possible AICC members were kept out of the list of PCC office-bearers and the PCC executive.

The guidelines issued this afternoon are being as seen as an attempt by the Congress president to broad-base the different party organs. It is also aimed at ensuring that the power structure at the centre and the State level is not limited to the same set of people.

The general secretary in-charge of the AICC, Mr. Oscar Fernandes, said the move was meant to ensure power-sharing among the party workers and also to ensure that ``people make way for others''. By this logic, the new CWC could comprise leaders who have spent considerable time in the body making way for others. The intention is to prevent power monopolies.

The party has drawn flak in recent days for avoiding elections to the CWC and resorting yet again to the culture of nominations. Faced with the unenviable task of accommodating the different groups in the party bodies, Ms. Gandhi perhaps realises that given the number of aspirants she cannot possibly find a place for everybody.

The move has, however, caught the State satraps and all those clamoring for a place in the AICC off-guard. With most of the top guns in the States figuring in the AICC lists, the PCC office- bearers and the State executive as well as the parliamentary boards in the States are likely to have a lot of new faces.

Ms. Gandhi's return to the capital saw a spurt in lobbying at the party headquarters by those clamouring for positions and those trying to save their slots. The TNCC chief, Mr. Elangovan, arrived along with his supporters to canvass for his continuance in office. For the past few weeks, he has been buffeted by his opponents's efforts to dislodge him. Last month, Mr. Thangabalu and Mr. Anbarasu camped in the capital for days to get the high command to remove Mr. Elangovan.

The pace has picked up once again, with the supporters and detractors of Mr. Elangovan calling on the office-bearers at the AICC to press their claims. This morning, Mr. Elangovan met the party president, while his supporters met the general secretary in-charge of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Ghulamnabi Azad, and Mr. Oscar Fernandes, Mr. Moti Lal Vora and Mr. Anil Shastri, to press his claims.

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Section  : National
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