AHMEDABAD, June 23: The race for the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee presidentship got a new twist yesterday, following AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel's remark that the next state PCC chief should be strong enough to protect the party against the Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP).

Officially, there is no contest for the president's post as all the candidates have withdrawn their names to enable the high command to pick ``the most suitable among them''. Unofficially, however, there are many in the fray.

Ahmed Patel's sympathies, for one, are known to lie with south Gujarat MLA and former deputy chief minister C D Patel. Before leaving for Delhi, the AICC treasurer launched an open attack on the present state party leadership, saying the Congress had suffered enough humiliation under it in the past six months.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.