Elections for the post of All India Congress President follows two days later. After almost two and a half decades, Congress is going to witness such a voting process again. The West Bengal Congress is participating in the organizational elections in the atmosphere of conflict between the state and district congresses.
Details about the conflict
The number of representatives of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) is 543. That is, they will vote in the secret ballot in the Bidhan Bhavan next Monday. The cadre of PCC is fixed according to the rules of representation along the organizational block of the party. But in the meantime, a draft list of 872 PCC members had gone out! Controversy and confusion between the leadership of the provincial and district Congress at the heart of the Congress. The question has also arisen as to how such a list was released.
In the end, the list of 543 people was approved by the ICC. According to the sources, given the situation, NiloyPramanik, secretary of the organization in charge of the state Congress, wrote a letter to the district presidents and claimed that the district leadership and the central election authority are responsible for the mistakes and confusion. Despite not making any ‘mistake’, the state Congress is ‘suffering’ in the middle. Mentioned in the letter. According to the source, the letter is a clear indication that the controversy is raging.
Resignation of PR
Incidentally, Nasir Hossain, the in-charge PR of Bengal for the membership process, resigned before the election. According to sources, Keshar Singh, who was traveling from district to district looking after the work of the membership, has also gone abroad. Shamsher Singh Dullo of Punjab has been given the responsibility of PRO by the ICC. Vivek Jain from Rajasthan is supposed to come as an election officer. Shashi Tharoor, Mallikarjun Kharge’s rival for the post of president, is no longer coming to Kolkata.
According to Congress sources, in that letter, the secretary of the state Congress wrote that some district presidents had ‘forgotten’ to recommend the names of prominent leaders including former MLAs for PCC members! Several names were left out in various ways, and the recommendation of ‘Sankalp Shivir’ in Udaipur was not accepted in some cases. The letter states that the District Congress had forwarded their name recommendations to the Central Election Authority (Delhi) without keeping the Pradesh Congress in the process.
Again, the election authority also prepares the list by deducting from that name as per the rules. The state Congress had no role in it. In that letter, it is claimed that by courting at the highest level, the Pradesh Congress has corrected several mistakes. The letter alleges that despite not making any mistakes, the Pradesh Congress is facing questions and criticism.
Wrapping up
In the words of a district president, “The fake list that is being talked about, is it possible for any district to do that? Which district has the authority to put all the names in one place?”