Pal elected new president of Sarva Sewa Sangh

Wardha: After a bitter power struggle in the Sarva Sewa Sangh (SSS) over the last few months, Chandan Pal was elected unopposed its new president on Sunday at the 88th convention of SSS, which is the apex body of Gandhian organizations in the country.
The election was held at the Kasturba Health Society, Sewagram. Pal’s was the only nomination filed.He had been the interim president of SSS since March 2020.
According to returning officer Ramesh Pankaj, he checked Pal’s documents, awarded certificate and declared him the president in the presence of 50 people, including 38 Loksevaks (authorized members of Gandhian community who have a right to vote).
“There are 169 Loksevaks across the country eligible to vote in this election. One-eighth of the electorate were required for a valid election,” Pankaj said and added that there was no need for a representative from the charity commissioner’s office to attended the process. All the proceedings had been notified earlier.
After the election, Chandan Pal was congratulated by senior Gandhians Asha Batra, Sugan Baranth, Ashok Sharan and others.
Following a conflict between two groups, previous president Mahadev Vidrohi was removed from the post of SSS president and Pal appointed as the interim president. On November 25, Pradip Kumar Bajaj, a senior journalist from Varanasi, was declared elected and announced as next president on official website of SSS.
Vidrohi and his supporters also tried to cancel the convention in view of coronavirus pandemic by writing letters to district collector and filing a petition in court. But district administration gave permission for convention with 50 members only.
On Sunday, a few members of Sarvoday Samaj prayed at Bapu Kuti. One of the members, Dharmendra Rajput, said, “We want to end the conflict in Sarvoday Samaj (Gandhian people). We don’t support anyone, we support the cause, hence we are praying here for all the problems to end.”
Guardian minister and Congress leader Sunil Kedar, who addressed the concluding ceremony of the two-day convention, said, “After such conflict of opinion, this convention ended with positive decisions. I think this is the power of Gandhian thought, that we avoid obstacles and do what we have to do. We should continue to work on Gandhian thoughts against all opposition.”