Delhi visit of the state Congress chief Pritam Singh and other senior leaders has let speculation swirling that the party would soon announce a new PCC.
It is reliably learnt that the party would announce four committees as part of preparation for the upcoming Lok Sabha election before declaring the much- awaited PCC.
The PCC president Pritam was slated to meet the Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday but the meeting could not have taken place with Rahul being in Rajasthan on the day. On Friday, the Congress president would chair an important meeting of All India Congress Committee ( AICC) in New Delhi in which leaders from all state units would participate. In course of the meeting, the roadmap of party’s preparations for the high-stake Lok Sabha election would be firmed up. In the meeting, the in charge of state unit Anugrah Narayan Singh, the PCC chief Pritam Singh and the leader of the opposition in Uttarakhand Assembly Indira Hridayesh would participate.
Meanwhile, speculation is running rife that the party would soon announce the election committee, coordination committee, media committee and publicity committee for the Lok Sabha election. The party is likely to accommodate some leaders, who have been jockeying for entry in the PCC, in these committees. Party insiders revealed that after announcement of these committees, Pritam Singh might announce his new team.
The PCC chief in the past had repeatedly said that the new PCC would be a small one unlike the jumbo PCC formed when Kishore Upadhyaya stewarded the state unit. However, it is unlikely that the PCC would have less than 50 members. Sources said that given the internal dynamics of the party where different leaders are pulling stops to ensure that their supporters are in the apex body of the state Congress, the new PCC would at least have 75 members.
Aware of the internal rift gnawing at the state unit where mighty factions led by former chief minister Harish Rawat, former PCC chief Kishore Upadhyaya and combined camp of PCC chief Pritam Singh and Indira Hridayesh are active, the central leaders have been treading a cautious line on the constitution of the new PCC. The central leaders want that adequate representation to all camps is given in the new team so that the party is able to put up a good show in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.