AICC dubs PCC move as `hasty’

NEW DELHI, JUNE 27: The Congress high command here is trying to give the impression that it was “taken by surprise” over the Gujarat suspensions. AICC sources, in fact, admit that the action was “hasty” and that the concerned partymen should have first been issued show-cause notices, as is the general norm.

A senior AICC functionary, while admitting that as per the party constitution the PCC chief had no authority to suspend AICC members, said that in this case, C.D. Patel had not taken the high command into confidence before initiating the action. Disciplinary action against AICC members can be taken only by the high command and on the basis of a procedure, which involves a show-cause notices and referring the matter to the central Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC), the final arbiter.

In fact, this is the reason why action against several senior leaders, including former Orissa chief minister Hemananda Biswal and former Tamil Nadu PCC chief T.K. Ramamurthy, has been held up since CWC member Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy has refused to convene a meeting of the DAC, of which he is the chairman.

But while the high command may not have approved of the PCC chief’s action, sources say that now that the suspensions have been made, it apparently doesn’t intend to intervene to rectify matters. The central leadership has viewed with consternation how Madhavsinh Solanki, his son and other supporters have been making accusations against the PCC leadership and planning parallel meetings on the plea of reviving the party in the state.