Arjun-Tiwari salvo in PCC chief’s appointment may have missed the mark

It was Khursheed, who, when confronted with his removal, had recommended Tiwari’s name to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi as his successor and Tiwari, by all indications, was ready for the challenge. But Sonia, in a deft move, turned down Tiwari’s name on the ground that his appointment would fuel the factional fighting in the state as the animosity between him and senior CWC member Jitendra Prasada was common knowledge.

Sonia wanted someone relatively non-controversial and mostly acceptable to all in the state unit, and so accepted S.P. Jaiswal. Jaiswal had the powerful backing of Scindia and, having served in the Congress (Tiwari) earlier, could not be rejected outright by the Tiwari-Arjun duo. According to sources close to Jaiswal, Sonia expects him to work toward rejuvenating the organisation in the state and not play a factional leader as his predecessor did.

Party sources say Khursheed’s ouster had become inevitable following the large number of complaints against him, particularly in the appointment of District Returning Officers (DROs) for the party polls. In drawing up the list of DROs, the PCC chief is said to have handed over the majority chunk of PCC delegates’ posts to the Arjun-Tiwari combine and ensured the virtual isolation of senior CWC member Jitendra Prasada and his supporters. Therefore, the theory that Khursheed had fallen out with Tiwari and Arjun doesn’t cut much ice and is obviously meant to project him as martyr.

The DROs play the key role in the election of PCC delegates, who in turn elect AICC delegates. AICC delegates elect part of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and so the struggle for positions in the CWC among senior leaders is causing all these backroom machinations.

Khursheed’s overeagerness to please Arjun and Tiwari to ensure his survival in the state appears to have become his undoing. The plan was to put Tiwari in Khursheed’s place if the change was inevitable, and in return, the latter was to contest for the CWC with the support of the AICC delegates from UP.

Party sources say that the scrapping of the list of DROs for UP by Central Election Authority (CEA) chairman Ram Niwas Mirdha has further upset the plans of the Tiwari-Arjun duo, for a new list in which Jaiswal will have a say will have to be drawn up. Mirdha was left with no option but to rubbish the list following large-scale complaints from partymen in the state. He is also believed to have informed Sonia about blatant manipulations in the list.