I146;m a general without army: Munna

For the perennially-troubled UP Congress, appointment of Arun Kumar Munna as PCC chief seemed a good move. Now nobody is sure. Munna has bee...

For the perennially-troubled UP Congress, appointment of Arun Kumar Munna as PCC chief seemed a good move. Now nobody is sure. Munna has been telling Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and other leaders that he has got a raw deal. 8216;8216;I am like a General without an Army. My hands are tied,8217;8217; Munna told Sonia three days ago.

His grouse: Recent appointment of 100 secretaries and vice presidents saw 8216;8216;his men8217;8217; sidelined in favour of rival camps of CLP leader Pramod Tiwari and former PCC chief Salman Khurshid.

Transfers: WB raps Maya

LUCKNOW: All it takes is a World Bank frown to get Mayawati off her high horse. The UP CM insisted she was not accountable to anyone for the frequent transfers till she got a letter from the bank saying that ongoing projects may be affected in the game of musical chairs. She rushed a reply saying: 8216;8216;Some transfers had been effected8230; and the government made sure that no WB-aided project would suffer8230;The system as such remains the same and there are no field-level changes.8217;8217; The matter was also raised in the Vidhan Sabha, with Opposition Leader Azam Khan demanding an explanation. ENS

Munna also trained his guns on Motilal Vora, the AICC general secretary in-charge of UP. Khurshid, however, pointed out that Munna has no option but to learn to live alongside Tiwari.

He also denied that any of his men had secured any appointments. 8216;8216;In fact, I have disassociated myself from UP politics.8217;8217; Of course, many won8217;t agree. Munna, however, was tight-lipped. 8216;8216;I cannot comment, everything is all right,8217;8217; he said. But in the same breath, he said: 8216;8216;Tiwari is in my camp, but I am the chief. Same for Khurshid, he belongs to my camp but I am the chief8230;. There are bound to be hiccups in a new set-up, but I will sort out everything.8217;8217;

Congress sources said Munna8217;s problems began the day the post fell into his lap. Among the many UP stalwarts who thronged 10 Janpath after the sacking of former PCC chief S. Jaiswal, he was the last.

Tiwari was tipped to be the next PCC chief, with Vora8217;s backing, when Munna pipped everyone to the post.

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Soon after, the battle-lines were drawn with the Tiwari faction on one side and Munna, aided by Janardan Dwiwedi, on the other. His 8216;8216;loyalty8217;8217; to the Gandhi family his only calling card, this is Munna8217;s first real brush with the 8216;8216;true Congress8217;8217;, a leader here said.

Khurshid has some advice for Munna: 8220;PCC chief8217;s is a tough job, particularly in UP. The moment you say no to workers8217; demands, they start gunning for you.8217;8217;