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Fallouts from the Ashanti Regional Delegates Congress, held last Tuesday at Mampong, must have sent strong shivers down the spine of the perceived Rawlings/Spio faction in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) party, after some candidates, seen as enjoying the support of the two leading figures in the party, failed to win their respective positions. The converse, however, appears to be the case for those candidates who were alleged to have received support from some prominent personalities in the executive arm of the government. Prior to the December 15 congress, some leading members in the party, including the Zongo caucus in Kumasi, raised serious objections over what they perceived to be clandestine moves by the Castle to thwart the efforts of candidates who allegedly belonged to the Rawlings/Spio faction within the party. Some disgruntled and embittered members of the party, even threatened to leave the party, and suggested to former President Rawlings to quit and form his own party, if his favorite candidate for the Regional Chairmanship position Mr. Frank Osei Mensah, was defeated in the elections. They accused the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. Kofi Opoku-Manu, and some Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDECs) in the region, of being the architects of a plot to ditch all candidates who received support from the former President and his associates. But, it appears the plan worked to perfection, as the majority of the Rawlings-backed candidates, failed to clinch victories in their respective positions during the congress, which was held peacefully without any violence. The defeated candidates are already pointing accusing fingers at the power house in Accra, blaming some leading personalities for masterminding their downfall. What appears to have lent credence to this speculation, was the fact that apart from Mr. Joseph Yamin, who was the only candidate to have won his position among the �winning team� formed at the beginning of the year, all the candidates from the team, including incumbent executives, lost their positions. The winning team was supposedly formed by some �renegade members,� who were allegedly not happy with the fact that they were not given any appointments by President John Evans Atta Mills, after the party won power. The various candidates, who were initially billed to form the wining team, include Alhaji Mohammed Sannie and Nana Ishmael Butler, who vied for the Chairman and Vice Chairmanship positions respectively, while Mr Joseph Yamin and Ofori Agyemang, popularly known as King Zuba, for the Regional and Deputy Secretary positions, Ernest Brogya Genfi, popularly known as �Armani�, Gado Umar Farouk for Deputy Propaganda slot among others. The first candidate to have fallen victim to the conspiracy, was Mr. Frank Mensah, a business tycoon and former Regional Chairman of the party, who was allegedly receiving major support from the Rawlings faction. An insider within the party has hinted The Chronicle that even though the Castle faction threw their support behind Mr. Dominic Anoma, aka Dom-Ano, for the chairmanship slot, the eventual winner, Yaw Bimpeh, cannot absolve himself from some form of executive support, after it was reported that he entered the congress ground in the company of the Regional Minister and some DCEs, who had been billed to work their way. Ishmael Nana Butler, who contested for the regional Vice Chairmanship position, lost miserable to one Alex Ativor, who is allegedly favoured by the Castle, while Ofori Agyemang Boadi, aka Zuba, also failed to win against his main opponent, Raymond Tandoh. It is, however, believed that Mr. Yamin, who sailed through the Regional Secretary hurdle, managed to do so, because he campaigned on his own, and declined to attach himself to any group.