The Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) is staring at a major leadership crisis at a time when the Assembly elections are knocking on the door. It has been more than two months since the party’s State President Ajoy Kumar tendered his resignation, but the uncertainty over who would take the reins of the party in hand for the upcoming elections is yet not over, party insiders said on Friday.
Rift within the State unit of the Congress party became evident soon after its humiliating defeat in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls. After Kumar’s resignation on May 27, senior leaders and office bearers in the party were found to be at loggerheads over his decision. The infighting, however, is now getting bad to worse with leaders hoping for a showdown prior to the upcoming assembly elections, sources in the party said.
A senior office bearer in the party’s Jharkhand unit said that the party may have to face challenges during the elections as even the agenda for the polls here is not set. “We may go to polls in December, which means we have only five months in hand and even our agenda for the elections is not set,” he said requesting anonymity.
JPCC’s Spokesperson Lal Kishor Nath Shahdeo, however, said that Kumar was doing all the duties of a State President in absence of a successor. “He (Ajoy Kumar) has called for a meeting of all the district presidents of the party on Monday. The meeting has been called with the focus on the upcoming elections,” said Shahdeo.
Kumar’s resignation has been kept on hold by the party’s high command in New Delhi and he has been asked to continue serving the position of the State President until further notice, party sources said. However, the party remains divided over the appointment of a new party president here. While at least 10 district presidents of the party have jointly requested Kumar to withdraw his resignation, former JPCC president Pradeep Balmucchu has openly held him responsible for the party’s debacle in the general elections here.
Balmuchu, however, is not the only senior party leader flaying Kumar for his alleged poor decisions. Former Godda MP Furqan Ansari has also said that Kumar’s decision of resigning from the position of the state president showed the lack of will in him to work on addressing the damage that has been done. Kumar did not respond to calls from The Pioneer on Friday.
Congress party contested seven of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand this year and played the role of a big brother in the grand alliance. However, it could manage to win only in Singhbhum constituency, where Geeta Koda defeated BJP state president and incumbent MP Laxman Gilua.