The Congress high command has not made up its mind whether or not to replace the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee chief Kripashankar Singh ahead of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation elections.
Besides, it has not taken any decision on the offer of resignations by the Bihar and Tamil Nadu Congress presidents.
The Congress leadership appears to be in a double mind on a continuation of Mr Singh as MRCC chief because of factors other than political considerations. A section of the Congress is raising a question on whether it would be politically wise to remove Mr Singh ahead of the BMC polls. But it is ignoring the fact that Mr Mehboob Ali Kaiser was made the Bihar PCC president in the middle of the electoral battle.
The coming BMC polls could be an indicator of changing political equations in the state.
Although the Congress has won all the Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai this time, the party is not as strong as to win the BMC on its own, feel insiders.
Interestingly, the Congress could not win the BMC elections despite defeating the Shiv Sena-BJP combine in both the Lok Sabha and the state Assembly elections held in 2004 and 2009, respectively.
A section of the party has been pleading for the going-it-alone line in the coming local body polls, including that of the BMC, suggesting that the Congress is losing its political space in Maharashtra because of its coalition with the NCP.
The Congress heavyweights in the past like the late S.K. Patil and Rajni Patel led the then Bombay Pradesh Congress Committee effectively.
As far as the fate of Tamil Nadu and Bihar PCC presidents is concerned, the Congress does not appear to be in a hurry to take any decision.
The Congress remained a single-digit party in Bihar and Tamil Nadu because of its pathetic performance in the state Assembly elections.
While Mr Kaiser had offered to resign, Tamil Nadu Congress chief K.V. Thangkabalu has actually resigned taking moral responsibility for the party’s defeat.