Cong divided over separate Uttarnchal unit

NEW DELHI, AUG 26: The countdown for the creation of Uttaranchal has already begun but the Congress is yet to get its act together for set...

NEW DELHI, AUG 26: The countdown for the creation of Uttaranchal has already begun but the Congress is yet to get its act together for setting up a separate state unit for the region.

Plagued by internal differences on the issue, the party has been postponing the setting of a Pradesh Congress Committee for the hill state. Ironically, the proposal for setting up a regional Congress committee on the pattern of the one in Mumbai for Uttaranchal was approved at the party8217;s Calcutta session nearly three years back and was subsequently endorsed by Congress Working Committee CWC.

According to party sources, while AICC general secretary incharge of Uttar Pradesh Sushil Kumar Shinde has been keen on setting up the PCC 8220;at the earliest,8221; his proposal is being opposed by a section state partymen led by senior CWC member and MP from Nainital N.D. Tiwari.

The issue of an early setting up of a separate PCC for Uttaranchal was a subject of intense debate at a recent meeting of the Coordination Committee for UP, convened by Shinde. While Shinde and senior CWC member Jitendra Prasada favoured the proposal, Tiwari sounded a 8220;dissenting note8221;.

Tiwari was of the view that creation of a separate PCC at this stage would only further fuel factionalism and infighting in the UPPCC and as such it would be better to postpone it until Uttaranchal formally comes into being.

Party circles say that with party8217;s organisational elections near, Tiwari wants the status quo to be maintained since a separate PCC for Uttaranchal could create a rival centre of power for the senior leader, who is at present the party8217;s undisputed leader from the region. Considering his seniority in the party, Tiwari himself is an unlikely candidate for the PCC8217;s job but obviously the area is crucial to his political survival.

The Congress8217; lackadaisical approach on creating a separate organisation for Uttaranchal is all the more surprising since the hill state 8212; the only one among the three newly carved-out states 8212; which will go to polls to elect a new government, after an interim government is sworn in later this year. This is because the present strength of MLAs from the region stands at 22, while the new state is slated to have a 70-member assembly.

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Fresh elections will have to be held for the new state after the necessary delimitation is carried out by the Election Commission. The BJP will form an interim government which has 19 of the total 22 MLAs of the region.

Although the party has only one MP and one MLA from the Uttaranchal region at present, it could benefit from the anti-BJP feelings sweeping across UP. But that8217;s only if it manages to put an organisation in place quickly. Without the support of the Congress, the bills moved by the NDA government for the creation of Uttaranchal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand would not have approved in Parliament in this session.