Congress leaders in Uttar Pradesh are hectically lobbying for the post of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president and this is not only because they want to head the party organisation.
The party leaders believe that the post of the UPCC president will automatically lead them to the post of the next chief minister in the state and this explains the rush for the post.
Interestingly, Congressmen in UP already believe that they are on the verge of forming the next government — or, at least, being a part of it. Majority of the party leaders believe that they will get a decent number of seats but the figure is way ahead of the reality mark.
“It may sound bizarre at the moment but it is almost certain that the Congress will be an important part of the next government in Uttar Pradesh and chances are that the party will even have its own chief minister. Whoever is the party president during elections will get the credit for having led the party to success after almost two-and-a-quarter decades and will be a claimant to the chief minister’s post,” explained a senior party leader.
This explains why senior CLP leader Pramod Tiwari, who has held on to his post since 1989 and is the longest serving CLP leader till date, is also lobbying for the UPCC president’s post. Tiwari, till now, had shunned the organisational leadership but this time is obviously different.
Apart from Mr Tiwari, those in the running for the top job in the UP Congress include party MPs Nirmal Khatri and Dr Sanjay Singh and Union minister Jitin Prasada — the latter is believed to be Mr Rahul Gandhi’s choice.
Besides the present incumbent, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, is already a strong contender for the second term in office.
“Rita Bahuguna Joshi has valiantly fought against the Mayawati government and even got her house torched in the bargain. We need an aggressive leader to lead the party into the next elections and she is best suited for the job,” say her supporters.