Congress:Party gets to know who is Boss

In the past couple of days, dissidents have besieged the Congress headquarters in Jaipur. And caught in the melee of political anger is Prad...

In the past couple of days, dissidents have besieged the Congress headquarters in Jaipur. And caught in the melee of political anger is Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Girija Vyas. As she struggled to keep the dissidents at bay, a nervous Vyas suddenly found herself fighting a lonely battle against candidates who haven’t made it to the Congress list.

Policemen now camp in the Congress headquarters after attempts were made to dismantle Vyas’s nameplate. Supporters of hopeful from Bassi, Shankarlal Sharma, held Vyas to ransom, wanting to know why a rebel candidate had been given a ticket instead of him. The entire episode has rattled Vyas and she has asked the police to re-depute her personal security officer, who was withdrawn after the election code of conduct came into force.

A couple of weeks back, all the action was taking place at Ashok Gehlot’s residence. Hundreds took to the road leading to the Chief Minister each time he was in Jaipur. State Congress general secretary Pankaj Pancholi admits Gehlot matters more than anyone else: ‘‘He has better liaison. But there has been coordination between Gehlot and Vyas.”

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But the facts again contradict Pancholi’s efforts to present a balanced picture. All the candidates Vyas was rooting for have not been give tickets. Besides Pancholi, Vyas was pushing for Ramakant Vyas, Surender Dagari and Giriraj Garg, all her office bearers in PCC.

However, during the entire decision phase, Gehlot mattered more and he finally had his say, managing to retain almost all his old MLAs despite the general feeling that at least 30 per cent of them should not be given a second chance. Vyas has always been quizzed about ‘‘playing second fiddle’’ to Gehlot and the ‘‘high command’’ in Delhi. But Vyas had dismissed all this as ‘‘mere rumours’’.