According to sources, senior party leader Sharad Pawar and another leader from Maharashtra, N K P Salve, almost convinced the All India Congress Committee general secretary and Maharashtra in-charge, Madhavrao Scindia, last fortnight about replacing city party chief Kishore Kashikar, and working president Krishnarao Hingankar, and appointing former legislator Govindrao Wanjari as new president for `strengthening' the party organisation.

However, the entire exercise fizzled out when a section of Congress leaders, including Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Prataprao Bhosale referred the issue to the party high command, particularly Sonia Gandhi, that the move was just to sideline the party loyalists, especially the anti-Pawar lobby in the city, before Assembly elections. Wanjari is a knownPawar camp activist and a bete noire of party legislator Satish Chaturvedi who controls the city Congress Committee.

The Chaturvedi group had captured maximum seats in the City Congress Committee in the organisational elections held over two years ago and Hingankar was made chief of the City Committee. However, there was hue and cry over the appointment and Kashikar, a protege of Salve, was made the president of the unit as a compromise formula. However, all along it is Hingankar, a staunch Chaturvedi supporter, who has been running the show.

The anti-Chaturvedi group led by Vilasrao Muttemwar, Datta Meghe, Gev Awari, and others had been pressurising Pawar for the last few months to intervene into the matter and appoint a person who can toe their line. This group even alleged that they did not get any cooperation from the city unit during the last Lok Sabha elections.

According to information, Pawar himself directed the MPCC to look into the matter and ensure that there is change of guard in theorganisation before the next polls. The MPCC, subsequently, authorised party stalwart Salve to convene a meeting at Nagpur with all sections of party leaders to evolve a compromising formula. The meeting, which was boycotted by Muttemwar, Gev Awari, Ashok Dhawad, Avinash Pande and Girish Gandhi, could not make any headway.

However, Pawar and Salve reportedly recommended dissolution of the City Committee and appointment of Wanjari as new chief and urged Scindia to give MPCC the directives to the effect. When Scindia was about to do it during the last fortnight, 10, Janpath reportedly intervened into the matter and the entire exercised was stalled, insiders claim.

In a backlash, the high command contrarily changed Ahmednagar Congress chief Dada Kalamkar and appointed Appasaheb Ragde, an MLA, as acting president. Similarly, Aurangabad Congress chief Sudhakar Sonwane was removed from the post and Suresh Patil, a co-operative leader, was installed.

Surprisingly, both Kalamkar and Sonwane are staunch Pawarsupporters and the move seems to be an exercise to marginalise the Maratha warlord.

Talking to The Indian Express, a senior party leader, who preferred to be anonymous for obvious reasons, said the party high command was seriously thinking of changing the district committees of Jalna and Ratnagiri soon, where pro-Pawar people are dominating the show. If so, it would be another blow for Pawar.