Congmen want Tiwari to keep his nose out of Uttaranchal

Congmen want Tiwari to keep his nose out of Uttaranchal
SANJIV SINHA

NEW DELHI, NOV 30: Resentment is brewing within the Congress's Uttaranchal unit against senior leader and party MP from Nainital N.D. Tiwari over his decision to become a PCC delegate from Uttar Pradesh, while at the same time trying to influence the high command over the choice of the first PCC chief for the newly created state.

Among the frontrunners for the PCC chief's post are ex-Union minister Satpal Maharaj, party MLA Indira Hirdyesh -- both are Tiwari confidants -- and former MP Harish Rawat, who is the rival camp's candidate. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is likely to make her choice known on her return from Amethi.

The anti-Tiwari faction has been camping in Delhi for the past few days in a bid to get a direct audience with Sonia to air their grievances. Partymen from this section are angry over the fact that Tiwari has become a PCC delegate from Bareilly district, which falls in UP, despite being a native of Uttaranchal and the party's MP from Nainital.

Logically, Tiwari should have become a PCC member from his constituency, but the CWC member obviously wants to keep his hold in the UP state unit intact. ``Tiwari wants to have the best of both worlds, have his say in UP as well as in Uttaranchal...He should first decide where his loyalties lie,'' a senior leader from Uttaranchal asserted.

The fact that Tiwari has been taking a keen interest in the state's affairs despite ``dissociating'' himself from Uttaranchal has further irked partymen in the state. His lobbying for Maharaj and, to a lesser extent, Hirdyesh is being cited as an example.

Maharaj is a die-hard Tiwari loyalist, having been part of the erstwhile Congress (Tiwari) while Hirdyesh, an MLC from the teachers' quota, is also a long-time associate of the senior leader.

The anti-Tiwari faction wants Rawat to be the new PCC chief. Rawat, a three-time MP from Almora, is also the convenor of the Uttarakhand Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, which spearheaded the agitation for a separate hill state.

The state unit comprising around 130 delegates has already passed a resolution authorising Sonia to nominate the first PCC chief of the new state. Apart from Hirdyesh, the Congress has a lone MLA in the 30-member state Assembly, but the delay in the decision to find a new PCC chief is costing it dear since there is practically no official voice to air the party's views on crucial issues facing the new state.

Meanwhile, despite a meeting with Sonia last evening, S.S. Bundela, party MP from Jhansi and rebel leader Jitendra Prasada's loyalist, is determined to contest for the election of the PCC chief's post in UP. ``I have already announced my candidature for the post and there is no question of going back now,'' he told The Indian Express today.

Bundela said he had discussed party matters in UP with Sonia during his half-an-hour meeting with her and that the issue of party elections in the state didn't crop up. Party sources said the election in-charge of the state, Birender Singh, had decided on the poll schedule, with the nominations to take place on December 3 and elections if necessary on December 7.