Ranchi, Aug. 11: Congress dissidents are unwilling to soft-pedal on their demand for a change of guard at the party helm. This, despite the AICC general secretary in-charge of Jharkhand affairs Harikesh Bahadur’s clarification at the extended working committee meeting yesterday that removing state party president Thomas Hansda was not on the agenda.

A senior Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) leader, who is spearheading the campaign, told The Telegraph that a delegation of disgruntled leaders met Bahadur late last night. They repeated their arguments that Hansda’s poor health made him incapable of leading the party. They said they need a young, dynamic leader before the Assembly elections.

The leader, who is a legislator, said Bahadur gave them a patient hearing and assured that their point of view will be conveyed to the high command. The leader claimed that Hansda’s ouster was “certain”. Yesterday Bahadur had stated that removing Hansda was not on the agenda. He did say the high command was aware of the statements against Hansda made by a few leaders.

“We live in a democratic set-up where everyone has the right to express his or her views. The high command takes a decision only after analysing the divergent views on any issue,” Bahadur said.

The dissidents, however, insist that the stock statement needs to be read between the lines. Another disgruntled MLA said, “I agree that Bahadur has said replacing state party president was not on the agenda of the high command. But he added that even if it is an issue for the leadership, he was not aware of it. I think this is a point to be noted.”

“Bahadur has made it clear that any final decision on the issue will be taken by the party high command. Never during the meeting did he reject the demand outright,” he said confidently.

When asked why the demand was not raised during the working committee meeting, the dissident leader said: “Not everything is done from official forums.”

On the second day of his trip to Jharkhand, Bahadur today visited Daltonganj where he addressed party workers from Latehar and Garhwa. On the way, he also met party workers at Chandwa circuit house. He also addressed a training camp for Congress workers at Daltonganj.

Party sources said a significant feature of the meeting was that Thomas Hansda and his bete noir Chandra Shekhar Dubey shared the dais and even complimented each other. Dubey had recently demanded Hansda’s removal.