M A I N   N E W S

Parallel DCCs formed in Hamirpur, Chamba
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, Oct 15 — Differences in the Congress came to the fore today during the party’s organisational elections in Hamirpur and Chamba district.

Two parallel District Congress Committees were formed, one at Hotel Hamir and another at the local Circuit House. Mr Balak Ram Sharma and Mr Charan Dass Balihar, both party veterans, were named presidents of the two factions of the party.

Mr B.R. Sharma was named President of the DCC at a meeting held at Hotel Hamir under the supervision of Mr K.C. Sharma, District Returning Officer for the elections. The other group elected Mr Balihar as President of the DCC.

Mr K.C. Sharma told reporters that elections were held unanimously and all delegates were informed about the venue in time. He said many party leaders had a meeting with him till 3.00 in the morning but surprisingly they did not turn up to attend the meeting later.

He said 26 of the 41 party delegates elected Mr B.R. Sharma as the DCC chief and Mr Suresh Handa, District Youth Congress chief, as the Vice-President of the party.

However, Mr Suresh Rana, officiating returning officer, told this reporter at the Circuit House that of the 46 delegates, 24 were present at the meeting and elected Mr Balihar as the district President and Mr Kuldip Singh Dogra, Ms Luxmi Vimla and Capt Sita Ram as vice-presidents. Mr R.C. Sharma was elected treasurer of the party.

Mrs Anita Verma, HP Congress Committee Vice-President, and Mr Kuldip Singh Pathania, a former Youth Congress President, told this correspondent at the Circuit House that the DRO was not available for the elections and the House appointed Mr Suresh Rana as the DRO for the elections. They alleged that the DRO appointed by the party high command did not perform his constitutional duty and instead supported a faction of the party.

They claimed that their faction was the legal DCC and it had the support of partymen in the district. They said delegates from Hamirpur, Mewa, Bamsan and Nadaunta supported them.

Mrs Verma said there was no split in the organisation. She said if the DRO conducted elections anywhere else, they were illegal as no lists of the delegates were displayed. They said Mr K.C. Sharma was responsible for the so-called rift in the party.

They expressed faith in the leadership of Mrs Sonia Gandhi at the Centre and Mr Virbhadra Singh in the state.

However, Prof Narain Chand Prasher, former minister, and Mr Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, HP Youth Congress chief, arch rival-turned friends, claimed that the elections held at Hotel Hamir were legal. They said they had full faith in the leadership of Mrs Sonia Gandhi and would support the person who would be elected party chief of the state.

Asked about Mr Virbhadra Singh, they said he was the leader of the party in the Vidhan Sabha and was a senior and respectable leader.

Surprisingly, Mr Rattan Chand Dogra, President of the Bamsan Block Congress, was present at both meetings and both sides claimed his support. His signatures were reportedly found in both registers.