Consensus eludes BRCC poll

MUMBAI, June 8: Acrimony has overtaken consensus on the eve of election to the post of president Brihanumbai Regional Congress Committee (B...

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MUMBAI, June 8: Acrimony has overtaken consensus on the eve of election to the post of president Brihanumbai Regional Congress Committee (BRCC) which is to take place simultaneously along with that of Congress president tomorrow.

Former BRCC president Murli Deora, despite avowals that he is tired of the job and unsure if he wishes another term as BRCC president, appears to be sitting pretty and might yet secure another shot at the second-most important job in the party (after that of party president).

According to sources in the Congress, a lot of pressure was building up on former MP Sunil Dutt to stand for the job but he appears reluctant to contest unless there is complete consensus at all levels in the party at his candidature.

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That being a near-impossibility under the given scenario in the Congress, Deora appears to have overtaken both Gurudas Kamat and Sharad Dighe who are presently in the two-member co-ordination committee of the BRCC following the former’s resignation in the wake of the party debacle in the civic polls in February. All indications are that he might be elected unopposed to the job after already serving out an 18 year stint as BRCC president, with Dighe and former MLA Syed Ahmed becoming the vice presidents.

Deora’s rivals, however, appear to be doing their best to mar his victory. They have challenged the composition of the electoral college and claimed that this debars not just his rivals but Deora himself from contesting.The electoral college comprises six district presidents, six district vice presidents, the heads of the Mahila Congress, Seva Dal and Youth Congress, the leader of the party in the Municipal Corporation and one city MLA.According to Kamat, if this electoral college were to be accepted, it debars not just him but even Dighe and Deora from contesting because none of their names figure in the list. Moreover, a delegation of city Congressmen led by Hasmukh Upadhyaya, MLC, met the Congress observer Venkatesh Reddy to complain about the alleged manipulation of the electoral college lists in four districts North West, South East, South Central and South Mumbai. Kamat, however, has himself been under attack for alleged manipulation of elections in his district North East Mumbai with an FIR registered by former minister Prof Javed Khan among others for being muscled out of the polls.

Nevertheless, Deora supporters expect little competition to their leader tomorrow. One has already begun to receive congratulations on behalf of his leader.