The wait for a new president in Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) is likely to end after the 75th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on August 20, party insiders said on Friday. The State unit of the party, which has been headless since former MP Ajoy Kumar’s resignation from the top position here, will also celebrate Gandhi’s birth anniversary across the State.
The party’s State In-Charge RPN Singh will attend the events in Ranchi on August 20 and is likely to have a meeting with leaders here to select the suitable contenders for the position of State president in Jharkhand, said a senior office bearer of JPCC. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has also called for a meeting on August 22 in New Delhi, where many senior leaders from across the country have been invited, he added. The final call on JPCC’s new president is likely to be taken during the meeting, which is aimed at finding the lacunae in the party and addressing long-pending issues, the office bearer, who has been in the thick of events, said.
“The Congress party has decided to hold major events across the country in memory of Late Rajiv Gandhi on August 20. Right now, the party is busy preparing for the grand events. A decision on the new president for Jharkhand might be taken after the nationwide celebrations,” said JPCC’s Spokesperson, Lal Kishorenath Shahdeo.
The position of president in JPCC was vacated in a rather unprecedented manner earlier this month. Kumar wrote a three-page resignation letter to former AICC President Rahul Gandhi in which he accused some of the senior leaders here of malpractices. Many veteran leaders in the party were left red faced after Kumar’s resignation letter was made public through social media. Kumar openly flayed party bigwigs such as former union minister Subodh Kant Sahay and former MP Pradeep Balmuchu in this letter.
Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Alamgir Alam and Lohardaga legislator Sukhdeo Bhagat are leading the race for the position of JPCC president so far, party insiders said. Alam is among the few leaders in the Congress party here who was praised by Kumar in his resignation letter. On the other hand, Bhagat, who led the party during the 2014 elections in Jharkhand, is among the popular tribal leaders here. He also enjoys the loyalty of several party workers here.
The Congress party here ran into rough weather after tasting a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections and Kumar found himself in the crosshairs of fellow Congress leaders.
The party leadership was evidently divided over the choice of a captain for the upcoming assembly elections here after Kumar’s position in JPCC became the bone of contention.
Last month, supporters of Kumar and Sahay locked horns at the State headquarters of the party in Ranchi and the tiff between them transformed into an ugly scuffle, which broke open the lid of bottled up differences within the party and grabbed the attention of the party’s high command in New Delhi.