Upsetting the aspirations of many grass root level leaders working for the party for decades, the Congress is believed to have finalised the name of former Jamshedpur MP Dr Ajoy Kumar for the post of Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) president.
Reliable sources in the party in Delhi have conveyed it to The Pioneer that the party high command has stamped over his name who has been so far considered as an ‘outsider’.
Ajoy Kumar after serving one term in the lok Sabha on the Babulal Marandi-led Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) ticket in 2011 bypoll from Jamshedpur, had contested unsuccessfully again in 2014 with ‘comb’ symbol.
Nonetheless, the former IPS officer belonging to Karnataka joined the Congress soon after the lok Sabha poll defeat and went on becoming AICC spokesperson.
“Names of the likes of Subodh Kant Sahay, Pradeep Balmuchu and Manoj Yadav and couple of others were doing rounds for the Jharkhand Congress chief along with that of Dr Ajoy Kumar.
Now, the high command and the concerned AICC office bearers have cleared his name. Formal announcement of his name would be made in a day or two,” said a top leader of the party on Wednesday.
Earlier, the face to head the tribal State was to be declared during or after the party top level conclave which was expected soon after Diwali.
It is learnt that since the AICC conference, which is desperately awaited due to formal crowing of party national vice president as its president replacing Sonia Gandhi, has been deferred, the decision to replace incumbent Sukhdeo Bhagat in Jharkhand has been taken.
Moreover, the elevation of the new entrant as party State president has baffled many seasoned leaders serving the Congress for long time.
“If it is true then this is disastrous for the Congress in Jharkhand. What has been his association with the party and in the StateIJ It is being done by sidelining the leaders having decades of association with the party.
Earlier also, a former IPS officer who first went to the BJP doors and when rejected, joined the Congress (Arun Oraon) was given responsibility of AICC Secretary in Chhattisgarh,” said a former Minister expressing his disappointment over the repeated ignorance of Jharkhand leaders.
The decision, once announced, is likely to set the pot boiling in the party which may also go against the prospects of the Congress in not too far away elections set for 2019-20 in the form of lok Sabha and Assembly.
It would be hard also for the Party cadres and workers down the line to stomach the decision due to lack of hold the former JVM MP possesses at the ground level.