With no decision on the new Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president likely in the next few weeks,incumbent Congress chief Kaul Singh Thakur can breathe easy for now. Congress leaders in Himachal Pradesh,who had adopted a single-line resolution authorising party president Sonia Gandhi to name the new PCC president,were initially expecting a decision this month. Enquiries,however,suggest that the central leadership has not yet taken a final view on the issue since most state units have adopted similar resolutions. The high command is busy with the Bihar elections and preparations for the 125th anniversary celebrations of the party slated to be held next month. It does not look possible to decide a new incumbent soon, a senior AICC leader said from Delhi. A dominant faction of the party,which favours a second term for Kaul Singh,is not pressing for an immediate decision. They have been reportedly lobbying to outdo the efforts of the rival camp led by Union Minister for Steel Virbhadra Singh,who has recently managed to win support of a large number of MLAs to ensure the party takes him into confidence before deciding on any name. Virbhadra and a vocal section of MLAs,along with some former ministers,are particularly opposed to Kaul Singh. The reason of their annoyance is not unknown as the latter had been a member of the Virbhadra camp but shifted loyalty to the faction led by Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Vidya Stokes after becoming PCC president. When the party denied Assembly ticket to Virbhadra Singhs wife Pratibha Singh from Rohru,Thakur was blamed for this. The other names doing the rounds for the PCC chiefs post include former MP Chander Kumar,former minister Sujjan Singh Pathania and Ram Lal Thakur,who even had obtained nomination forms to contest the post against Kaul Singh.
