AHMEDABAD: Discontent has surfaced in the Gujarat Congress after the reconstitution of the State party by All-India Congress Committee general secretary B.K. Hariprasad and in-charge secretary Manish Tiwari. Two newly appointed Congress office-bearers submitted their resignations on Thursday within hours of the announcement of the reconstituted Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC).

The party has inducted younger people into the reconstituted body, leaving almost all senior party leaders out. The 140-member GPCC has been reduced to almost one third, with only 40 members, including 12 vice-presidents and 12 general secretaries.

Mr. Hariprasad, however, said a second list of secretaries and executive committee members would be out soon. The claims of the senior leaders would be considered in these appointments.

Of the 12 vice-presidents, only one, the left-leaning Ashok Punjabi, has been retained, while among the 12 general secretaries all but three are new faces. The worst-hit is the erstwhile Janata Dal (Gujarat) group: all of its office-bearers except one have been dropped.

A majority of the "original" Congressmen have also not found a place in the new body, which Mr. Hariprasad and Mr. Tiwari reconstituted over the last two days.

Fails to cut ice

Defending the decision not to include any member of Parliament from the State or members of the State Assembly in the GPCC, Mr. Hariprasad said this was in view of the elections to the Assembly next year when the party MLAs and MPs would be busy in their constituencies.

The reasoning, however, failed to cut ice with the elected representatives of the party.

One MP appointed as divisional in-charge of north Gujarat and an MLA appointed as the treasurer promptly submitted their resignations.

Many leaders pointed out that those who had no base in the party or following among the people, having lost elections even to the local-self government bodies, had been incorporated in the reconstituted body at the cost of the senior leaders. But Mr. Hariprasad said losing an election could not be a criterion for the selection of office-bearers as the outcome of elections depended on various external factors.

Second stage of expansion

Mr. Hariprasad assured the disgruntled leaders that the party would try to accommodate their views while expanding the GPCC in the second stage.

He advised the party to "go to the people", highlighting the achievements of the Government at the Centre and the failures of the Bharatiya Janata Party Government in the State.

To commemorate the centenary of "satyagraha," the party would launch a cycle rally from Porbandar to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad in January or February, which would be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi.

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