Kesri intervenes to resolve Gujarat Congress crisis

AHMEDABAD, June 2: The Congress president, Sitaram Kesri, today intervened to resolve the crisis over the organisational elections in the s...

AHMEDABAD, June 2: The Congress president, Sitaram Kesri, today intervened to resolve the crisis over the organisational elections in the state.

In a telephonic talk with the erstwhile JD-G faction leaders, Chhabildas Mehta and Jairambhai Patel, Kesri assured that their problems would be sorted out and added that they should rely on him.

Mehta who had drawn the attention of the party leader about the “injustice” meted out to their group in the organisational elections, tonight said that “It is an internal matter and the issue would be resolved amicably.”

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“The party is ready to consider the demand for proportional representation’, he said.

“We had submitted a list of one hundred leaders whereas only 35 of them got elected”, he said.

The pradesh returning officer, Narayan Swami had telephonic talks with the Narhari Amin and Bhrahmkumar Bhatt, and recieved a positive response on the matter, Mehta pointed out.

Mehta said he had conveyed to Kesri that the JD-G faction felt neglected and therefore they met yesterday at Gandhinagar and adopted a resolution demanding “legitimate right” in the party set-up. He said he had asked Kersi to solve the crisis arising out of the organisational election and the election of the pradesh delegates.

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Earlier, the state Congress chief, Prabodh Raval, met faction leaders Amin and Siddharth Patel at the GPCC office.

The leaders expressed hope that the issue would be solved amicably. At a JD (G) meeting yesterday, the group threatened to take serious action if they are not given proper representation in the State unit and the party’s organs like the working committee and executive committee by June 9. The JD (G) faction, which has 20 MLAs in the State Assembly, met at the Gandhinagar farmhouse of former chief minister Narhari Amin to discuss their plans to ensure adequate representation in the PCC delegates list. In their resolution, they warned that they would take “harsh political measures,” adding that the PCC leadership would be solely responsible for any adverse fallout. Some of the MLAs complained that CLP leader Amarsinh Chaudhary had desperately tried to convince them not to attend the meeting. This led to demands for a change in CLP leadership.

Despite the adverse mood, senior JD (G) MLA and former Union minister Manubhai Kotadia had confided to The Indian Express before the meeting that he was against a split. “We will fight the injustice, but from within the party,” he said, adding that the State party leadership should allow the organisational elections to be held democratically.