NEW DELHI, FEB 20: The faction-ridden Jammu and Kashmir Congress is likely to split soon, with the carving out of a separate ``territorial Congress committee'' for Ladakh region under direct control of AICC.The step is being taken following a demand for separation from JKPCC by the district Congress committees of Leh and Kargil because of its "continuous unhelpful attitude", party leader from Ladakh P Namgyal said here.The demand was conveyed by a 10-member delegation of party leaders from Ladakh region to Congress president Sonia Gandhi recently, Namgyal, who led the delegation, said.He said that the party chief had accepted the demand in principle and the 21-member committee would be set up soon.Explaining the necessity for separation, the former Lok Sabha member from Ladakh said the party's functioning, particularly financially, in Ladakh had become "very difficult due to unhelpful attitude of the JKPCC.""Financially, we have been left to manage on our own as JKPCC does not give any money tous. We are forced to raise money for the party's functioning through collection from people which is not appropriate to strengthen the party in Ladakh region," he said.The proposed TCC would be directly linked with the AICC and would have nothing to do with the JKPCC, he said.According to the proposal, the TCC would be headed by a regional president from Leh or Kargil district for two years alternately.The delegation also included Leh District Congress Committee president N Gyalson, Kargil District Congress Committee chief Agha Syed Jamal and chief executive councillor of Congress-dominated Leh Autonomous Hill District Council (LAHDC) Thupstan Chhewang.AICC general secretary in-charge of J and K, Ahmed Patel, was present at the meeting, Namgyal said.The move may lend a serious setback to faction-ridden Congress in Jammu and Kashmir as there is already a demand from within the party unit for removal of JKPCC president Chowdhury Mohammad Aslam and its reconstitution.A delegation of the JKPCCoffice-bearers sometime back met senior party leaders here, including Patel, to demand reconstitution of the PCC and appointment of an "effective" person as its chief."We want formation of a PCC which will be a representative body in true sense and in which all regions and sections of the state would get equal representation," party unit vice president Mangat Ram Sharma, who led the five-member delegation, had said.Seeking the constitution of a "cohesive and workable" PCC, Sharma said it should have "politically-oriented and committed people at the helm."
