Irregularities in UP AICC list foil Sonia’s revival plans

Among the districts which have been completely ignored are Ferozabad, Mainpuri, Hathras, Kannauj, Chitrakoot, Mahoba, Gonda, Shrawasti, Balrampur and Gautambuddhanagar. Its not only that the key districts in the state which is likely to go to polls later this year, have been given a go-by but party sources even point out that over 50 members on the list are those who have either joined the party recently or those who had left the party and have returned to it recently.

While “genuine” partymen in the state have been left in the lurch, there are several cases where more than one member from the same family have made it to the list. For example, while Vijay Bahuguna, son of Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, is an AICC member from Uttaranchal, his younger brother Shekhar Bahuguna and sister Rita Bahuguna Joshi have become members from Allahabad. From Allahabad again, there is the case of former UP minister Ashok Vajpayee having made it to the list along with his wife, Ranjana Vajpayee.

The party constitution lays down that AICC members are to be elected by PCC members from among themselves at the rough ratio of one AICC member for every seven PCC members. But it is an open secret in party circles that no elections were held in any of the states to elect AICC members and that the AICC lists were drawn up in Delhi by a handful of senior leaders.

State party circles that were expecting that the appointment of the new PCC chief S.P. Jaiswal and the reining in of factionalism would usher in some transparency in the working of the state unit and pave way for party’s revival are a disappointed lot and even apprehend a renewal of dissident activity.

“The manner in which the AICC list from UP has been prepared lends credence to the general belief that it is not aimed at seriously rejuvenating the party in the state but meant to comprise captive members who would come in handy for Sonia loyalists,” a senior state leader asserted.

While irregularities galore have surfaced in the AICC lists of several otherstates as well — compelling the party’s election chief Ram Niwas Mirdha to ask for an internal probe — what makes the bungling in UP stand out in sharper contrast is the fact that Sonia has devoted a lot of her energy to bring the party back on rails in the state.

In fact, her bold initiative to extend the olive branch to rebel leader Jitendra Prasada and his supporters was primarily undertaken with the objective of curbing the unbridled dissidence in the state unit which has seriously weakened the party.