Interestingly, Maulin Vaishnav, against whom a faction of the Congress is fighting, holds no key position from which he can be removed. On Saturday, when state Congress chief Siddharth Patel was in the city, banners reading 'Maulin Hataavo Congress Bachavo' (remove Maulin to save Congress) were put up in different parts of the city.

Vaishnav, meanwhile, refused to comment on the issue, saying it would be the senior leaders in Ahmedabad who would look into the issue and take appropriate action.

The controversy started nearly a couple of months ago when city Congress president Suresh Patel was not given a place on the stage during a public ceremony to handover a clock in the Walled City area, while BJP leader Bhupendra Lakhawala and VMC Mayor Balkrishna Shukla shared the stage. “After that, I offered my resignation to Pradesh Samiti, but they have not taken any decision as of now and asked me to continue,” said Suresh. After that incident, several Congress members had stopped attending party and public functions attended by Vaishnav.

“There has been a growing dissent against Vaishnav. But then, it holds no importance, as he is known for his work and not for holding any position. Although the banner issue was not known to Siddharth, he was quite stern about the present state of affairs in Vadodara," said a senior Congress leader who attended a meeting at Circuit House.