Putting its house in order in the run-up to the coming Assembly elections, the Congress high command on Monday named Sushila Karketta, Lok Sabha member from Khunti, as the new president of the Jharkhand unit. A tribal leader with a strong mass base, Karketta replaces Thomas Hansda. Talking to reporters on Monday, Karketta vowed to protect the interests of all sections of the electorate, saying, ‘‘I will be like a hen who takes care of all her chicks.’’ The Congress high command had been on the lookout for a replacement for Hansda for quite a while now. The name of Union Minister of State for Food Processing, Subodh Kant Sahay, had also come up, which led to tension between him and Hansda. Matters reached a head when party leaders opposing Sahay burnt his effigy at the state Congress office on November 15, an incident that led to the suspension of two party office-bearers in the state. Finally, it was Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Sonia Gandhi, who effected a truce between Sahay and Hansda. The party high command also named eight new vice-presidents in the state unit, ensuring both regional and caste balance. They are Pradeep Balmuchu, Tilakdhari Singh, Krishnanand Jha, B.N. Singh, Manzoor Ahmed Ansari, Ishwari Paswan and A.B. Singh.
