PANAJI, May 27: It will be a delicate exercise for the newly elected 50-member Goa Pradesh Congress Committee to decide who should head the Pradesh organisation in the State in June 9 organisational polls. Groups within the party desperately eyeing the pivotal post are engaged in tough battle for gaining control of the organisation.

Of the five aspirants in the race for Pradesh presidentship, two have withdrawn. Former Union minister of state Eduardo Palciro said he has no intention of being in the race for presidentship and former Agriculture minister Fransisco Sardinha had said that he was not keen on contesting, though he was not averse to accepting the post should a compromise favour him.

At the moment the race for the top post remains confined to former PCC chief Shantaram Naik and outgoing PCC chief Nirmala Sawant, both of whom have declared their intention to be in the race. Party sources revealed to The Indian Express that former chief minister Ravi Malik is trying to ``sell'' his candidature as a compromise choice.

After she moved closer to Wilfred De Souza's camp, Sawant has fallen out of favour of Chief Minister Rane. State Agriculture Minister Dayanand Narvekar has serious personal differences with her and is known to be using all his political clout to back Shantaram Naik against her.

Naik told this paper that his candidature has the backing of the Chief Minister.

In case of an election, Sawant may rely on De Souza camp for support. The election may become crucial for both the groups.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.