State units in disarray as AICC delays reshuffle

Uncertainty prevails in the All India Congress Committee (AICC) due to delay in its reconstitution.

Uncertainty prevails in the All India Congress Committee (AICC) due to delay in its reconstitution. The holdup is also affecting the functioning of the party in states, particularly those going to polls in May-June this year, as the central leadership is yet to approve the lists of office bearers of Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs).

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Office bearers are not sure of their continuation on the posts in the party reshuffle, which, according to some leaders, could follow the next rejig in the Cabinet possibly after the budget session. After the recent reshuffle, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had promised of a ‘more expansive’ exercise after the budget session.

“We don’t know what will be the contours of the new AICC. Who will continue or who will go is the big question,” a senior party functionary said. “There are possibilities that many general secretaries and secretaries may be changed…It also remains to be seen if the one-man-one-post principle will be followed or not,” he said.

With assembly polls round the corner in Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, the organisational structure is not in place in these and other states.

The PCCs had forwarded the lists to the AICC for approval some months ago.

To keep its flock together in some of these states, the party has decided not to disturb the ad hoc executive committees and maintain a status quo.

In October last year, Congress president Sonia Gandhi announced the names of 18 state presidents. Barring few, most of the PCC chiefs were retained.

But reports from these states suggest that even after the appointment of PCC chiefs, the party has not been able to generate the momentum it ideally should have.