NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 19: Taking party circles by surprise, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi today sacked once trusted lieutenant Salman Khurshid from the PCC chief's post in Uttar Pradesh. And installed the relatively lesser known, first-time MP from Kanpur, Sri Prakash Jaiswal.Salman's removal, barely a few weeks before party polls, came as a surprise since all along Sonia had resisted demands by a section of the state unit for his ouster. In fact, after organising a sucessful rally in Ballia for Sonia last month, followed by a well-received train yatra to violence-hit Padrauna, it was widely believed that Salman had weathered the storm.Jaiswal's appointment has come as a surprise as well. He's a relative newcomer when compared to the host of veteran state leaders including Ram Naresh Yadav, Mahavir Prasad and N D Tiwari, all of whom had been angling for the PCC chief's job.While AICC general secretary S K Shinde told The Indian Express today that the PCC chief was changed following a long-pending demand by a cross-section of the workers and leaders from the state, senior party leader Jitendra Prasada felt that the choice of the new PCC chief could have been left to the party workers since the party polls were barely 45 days away. ``We, however, accept the decision taken by the Congress president in her wisdom,'' he added.In the hurly-burly of UP's caste-based politics, Jaiswal, a bania-backward, isn't, however, going to find his task of first uniting the party and then preparing it for next year's assembly polls easy, faced as he will be with the machinations of a host of senior stalwarts from the state.His appointment came after hectic consultations by Sonia with senior central leaders associated with the state, including N D Tiwari, Mohsina Kidwai, S K Shinde, Motilal Vora and Mohsina Kidwai. Jaiswal is believed to have also had the backing of senior party leader Madhavrao Scindia and Arjun Singh - the latter because of Jaiswal's earlier association with Congress (Tiwari).While Jaiswal may not have much organisational experience, his USP, say party sources, is the fact that he doesn't belong to any of the numerous factions in the state unit and is relatively non-controversial. In his appointment, Sonia has obviously sent the signal that she has not given in to any one faction in the state unit and chosen a PCC chief who should be acceptable to all.More importantly, by removing Salman on the eve of party polls and appointing Jaiswal in his place, the Congress chief has taken the sting out of the campaign by a section of the state unit led by by senior CWC member Jitendra Prasada.Prasada and his supporters held several parallel ``save Congress'' rallies in UP to counter Salman, a move which was also being viewed as part of an overall strategy to target Sonia herself in the coming party polls.With Jaiswal's appointment, Sonia loyalists have strategised that these parallel rallies will have to perforce be put on the backburner by the Prasada camp since their target was Salman. And since the new PCC chief is not closely identified with any faction, the Prasada camp can neither protest over his choice nor claim outright victory for Salman's removal.In a way, Salman, a trusted 10-Janpath loyalist, appears to have become the scapegoat to counter a larger-than-UP challenge to Sonia herself.While there is no doubt that complaints against Salman of playing more a factional leader than a PCC chief had put Sonia in an uncomfortable position to defend him, the fact remains that he was handpicked by her two years back to head the state unit of a state which is crucial to the party's revival.Soon after his appointment, Jaiswal told reporters that he would strive to unite the state unit under Sonia's leadership. ``The factional fighting was limited to a particular issue and that is over.give me six months to bring the party back on the rails in UP,'' he claimed.
