NEW DELHI: The Uttar Pradesh Congress may not see a change of guard after all the speculation and behind-the-scene preparation.The incumbent party chief, Nirmal Khatri, is not just organising a party conclave in Lucknow but will continue thereafter.
With the rank and file threatening to go up in revolt if former Minister of State Jitin Prasada is made their chief, the newly appointed AICC in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad has decided to “drop the idea’’, according to sources.
Upset with the rumours that he will soon be replaced, Khatri had initially written to Azad excusing himself from the Lucknow meeting citing ill health. But now, he has not only been persuaded to organise the Lucknow meeting but also to continues as UPCC chief, sources close to Khatri said.After the Assam debacle and the inner-party tensions bringing down the Kerala tally of the party to one of its lowest, the Congress high command didn’t want to risk another controversy or largescale attrition of whatever is left of the Congress in the state.