MARGAO
The Congress has missed the deadline to appoint a new Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president, even as indications emanating from New Delhi revealed that it may take a couple of more days before Congress President Rahul Gandhi issues the appointment order.
Before leaving the State last week after holding wide-ranging consultations with local party leaders and workers on the choice of the successor for incumbent GPCC Chief Shantaram Naik, AICC General Secretary In-charge of Goa desk, Dr Chella Kumar, had announced that a new party president should be in place within 8-10 days.
While the 10-day deadline has elapsed without the Congress leadership in Delhi handpicking Shantaram’s successor, sources said Chella Kumar, who was out of Delhi last week, is heading to the national capital only on Thursday and is later expected to set in motion the process, before submitting a detailed note to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on his consultations in Goa. Dr Kumar told The Goan that it may take a few more days before the party leadership takes a call on the GPCC president. “I am leaving for the national capital tonight. I will be able to comment on the appointment of the new GPCC president after some days,” Dr Kumar had said.
Local party leaders, including GPCC President Shantaram Naik and Leader of Opposition Babu Kavlekar, have so far not received any intimation from the party’s central leadership. GPCC chief Shantaram Naik said: “I have not received any communique from the party central leadership till date. I have already put in my papers and I will vacate the post within a day after the successor is chosen by the party high command.”
Opposition leader, Babu Kavlekar, who was in Mumbai on Wednesday on a private visit, said he has not received any intimation from the party high command on the new PCC President. “We had all met and conveyed our sentiments to Dr Chella Kumar during his visit to Goa more than a week ago. So far, there’s no communique from Delhi,” Babu said.
Sources in the know said the contenders for the party president’s post, be it former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat or AICC Secretary Girish Chodankar or others, none of them have received any intimation from the party high command on the leadership issue. It could not be gathered whether the party leadership will call the party bigwigs and the strong contenders for the coveted post before the party leadership in Delhi.
While sources in the Congress circles say that six-time Margao MLA Digambar Kamat has emerged as a strong contender, AICC Secretary Girish Chodankar’s candidature has come under objection from the party MLAs, majority of whom are believed to have thrown their weight behind Kamat.
