Early Times Report
Jammu, June 30: As strongman Sham Lal Sharma continues to pose tough giving no indication to succumb to alleged pick and choose by the incumbent PCC president G A Mir, the high command is caught in a catch 22 situation over the announcement of new district presidents in Jammu and Kashmir.
Even after finalisation of the names of new district presidents and approval of the AICC president Rahul Gandhi, the Congress has not made the list public fearing open revolt in the party, particularly in Jammu where former Minister Sham Lal Sharma has already submitted his resignation from the post of PCC Senior Vice-president in protest against the alleged pick and choose policy. According to highly placed sources, the party high command has approved the names of Dr Manohar Lal, Hari Singh Chib, Sanjeev Sharma, Akram Choudhary, Vikram Malhotra, Krishan Lal Bhagat, Kewal Singh, Shabir Khan, Ashok Kumar and Nadeem Sharief as district presidents of Kathua, Jammu Rural, Samba, Poonch, Jammu Urban, Udhampur, Reasi, Rajouri and Doda, respectively. It was only after purported finalization of these names that Sham Lal harma had voiced his dissent over alleged ignoring of deserving Congressmen for the position of district presidents. Sham Lal wanted Pankaj Dogra, Manjeet Singh, Shivdev Singh and Ashok Gupta as district presidents of Kathua, Samba, Jammu Rural and Udhampur, respectively and he had openly opposed the names finalized by G A Mir. Now when more than a month has passed since the finalization of district president, the Congress high command is still not making these names public fearing trouble in the party as the party does not want to further annoy Sham Lal Sharma, who has the capacity to steer Congress to a comfortable number in elections, sources explained. Caught in a fix, sources added, the Congress high command has now decided to put the ball in the court of Ghulam Nabi Azad, who will evolve some way out, which could also be replacement of incumbent PCC president |
