If the PCC presidents are “elected” without a contest, then how can the CWC be constituted through secret ballot? This is the question being asked in the Congress. But party mandarins are expected to resolve the issue before the AICC meeting scheduled for November 2 in New Delhi.
The party has already announced a schedule for the CWC elections, which will be held on November 2, when the AICC meeting takes place here.
The official line on the CWC polls is that it was for the 1,000-odd AICC members to decide whether to have a contest or else authorise party chief Sonia Gandhi to nominate the entire 25-member CWC.
The AICC members constitute the electoral college for the CWC polls.
But party insiders are drawing attention to the line of electing PCC chiefs without a contest, suggesting that this has already set the tone for the composition of the CWC.
The state Congress units have earlier passed a resolution authorising Mrs Gandhi to nominate PCC chiefs.
The party has never been comfortable with a line that organisational posts should be filled through a contest. This is because an elected official becomes a rallying point for potential dissidents and thus questions the authority of the high command.
“The CWC elections held in 1997 at the Kolkata and at the Tirupati party plenary in 1992 produced rebels. Arjun Singhji had emerged as a main challenger to P.V. Narsimha Rao after his victory at the Tirupati CWC elections while elected members at the Kolkata CWC had played a key role in removing Sitaram Kesri from the presidentisp,” recalled insiders.
The talk in party circles is that the leadership is well aware of the problems that Narsimha Rao and Kesri faced after allowing contests for the CWC and therefore would like to keep senior leaders under obligation by nominating them to it.
The party leaders, including chief ministers, would like to go with the majority instead of taking a stand on this issue.
There has been no contest for the CWC since Mrs Gandhi took over the reins of the organisation in April 1998. The CWC has a total of 25 members with a provision for election of 12 of its member and nomination of 11.
The Congress president, as also the CPP leader party, are always members of the CWC with the party chief heading the key body.
The AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi has gone in for elections to the Youth Congress and the NSUI.
A party general secretary viewed that it is not necessary that the Congress should have a contest when it has decided upon the schedule for the CWC elections. “Don’t be surprised that at the AICC meeting someone could demand authorising Soniaji for nominating the CWC and it could catch up like wild fire,” he said.