With the general body meeting of the newly elected Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee delegates scheduled for September 13,it is expected that selection of the state party chief would be left to Congress president Sonia Gandhi she will be authorised to do so by passing a one-line resolution in this regard. The Congress election authority has come up with this idea after consulting senior leaders at the All India Congress Committee (AICC),following infighting among seniors leaders in the state unit. According to sources,the suggestion that a resolution should be passed to leave the selection of the state president on Sonia Gandhi would be floated in the general body meeting. Among others,the meeting will be attended by AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh,AICC secretary Parvez Hashmi and the five-member election authority team headed by State Election Officer Paban Singh Ghatowar. Since no one is expected to object,the resolution would be faxed to Gandhis office. As per some leaders,the reply may arrive the same day. Since,Uttar Pradesh is the state of the Congress president,it has been decided that everything will be left to her by passing a one-line resolution, said UPCC chief spokesperson Subodh Srivastava. Usually,after a single candidate files a nomination who is given a go ahead by the party high-command the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates elect the president through consensus. September 13 has also been set as the date for nominations to be filed for the post of the state party president. But some leaders in the anti-Rita Bahuguna Joshi camp have made it clear that if she files nomination,then there will be more to follow thereby forcing an election. They have,however,clarified that if things are left to Gandhi,they will not object to it. Thus,the general body meeting has been called around 10 am at the state party headquarters in Lucknow. Sources in AICC also said that the high command has already decided on a president and because of this reason,Digvijay Singh will visit Lucknow on September 12 to ensure that the resolution is passed peacefully. Speaking to The Indian Express,a senior leader said: The party is at a very critical stage in Uttar Pradesh. We have revived after decades and have come second in the polls. If the state president helps the party in regaining lost ground during the Assembly elections,the leader is sure to get some significant portfolio in the future,as UP is important for the national leadership. Hardly a week is left for filing nominations and yet in 16 districts,PCC delegates are yet to be elected due to infighting. Thus,in the next one week,around 300 more delegates have to be elected to complete the state committee of around 1,200 delegates. Only 837 names have been declared so far. Mahila Cong,Seva Dal to get own databank LUCKNOW: The state Mahila Congress and the Seva Dal have decided to form their own databank of party functionaries comprising addresses,cellphone numbers and photographs of members till the block level. On Sunday,both Seva Dal and the Mahila Congress held their state executive committee meetings at the party headquarters,where instructions in this regard were passed on to the members. We have already started collecting data. Some women have brought their photographs today. Soon,we will have our own data bank,with ready information district wise about our members at the grassroots level, said Shabnam Pandey,Spokesperson of the Mahila Congress. Both meetings were addressed by state party president Rita Bahuguna Joshi. We have been successful in ensuring that the list of PCC delegates contains about 19 per cent women. Now,it should be able to accommodate others too, Joshi said while addressing the Mahila Congress meeting. She also asked the Mahila Congress and Seva Dal workers to actively participate in panchayat elections.
