No attempt to curtail powers of Cong chief Pratibha: AICC secys

All India Congress Committee (AICC) co-incharges for the state Vidit Chaudhary and Chetan Chauhan today said that the appointment of 16 central observers to facilitate the reconstitution of the dissolved Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) was not an attempt to curtail the powers of state Congress president Pratibha Singh in the exercise.

They said, “Observers may have been appointed for the first time to reconstitute the HPCC, but it has already been done in other states like Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. It has been done to build a strong organisation in the state, not to curtail the powers of the HPCC president.”

A large section of the Congress leaders in the state maintains that it’s the prerogative of the Congress president to appoint office-bearers at the block and district levels and the appointment of the central observers was an infringement on that privilege. “Even if the observers have been appointed, the opinion of the party president should not be ignored while making appointments,” said a senior Congress leader who attended the meeting.

The co-incharges said that the appointed observers would arrive in Shimla on November 27 and then head to the district and blocks assigned to them to gather feedback about the potential candidates.

As per HPCC president Pratibha Singh, the observers have been appointed to ensure that feedback about the aspirants comes from multiple channels instead of just one so that the party gets dedicated and hardworking persons for various posts. “The observers have been sent here to see the situation on the ground, gather feedback and hold discussions with senior leaders. A report will then be sent to the party high command, which will discuss it with us and then the next step will be taken,” said Pratibha.

Much of the focus in the entire selection process would be on giving responsibilities to the youth and women, who had been working for long for the party. “There will be no quota for the youth and women but we will look to give more responsibilities to them in the reconstituted HPCC,” the AICC secretaries said.

‘One person, one post’ issue raised

Leaders raised the issue of the implementation of the principle of ‘One Person One Post’ in the party at the meeting with the AICC secretaries

Before the HPCC was dissolved, several individuals were holding posts in the government as well as in the party organisation

The AICC secretaries held a meeting with Congress president Pratibha Singh, former party presidents and several other leaders over the HPCC reconstitution