Denying him his ethnicity was a ruse not anticipated by their rival, who had otherwise made the position of chairman intangible. Lăzurică's replacement as UGRR leader, and also as Voivode, was Gheorghe Nicolescu, who served until 1941. Despite this change, the group continued to display fascist sympathies: according to one report, the 1935 Romani congress in Bucharest, presided upon by Gheorghe Nicolescu, was held in a hall decked with portraits of Hitler. According to a notice in Unirea Poporului newspaper, Lăzurică was supposedly invited to attend this meeting, which would have also offset any dispute between the two main factions by allowing attendees to elect their leadership. Nicolescu managed to obtain official recognition from the Romanian government, which Lăzurică had been unable to secure, and by 1939 commanded the loyalties of some 400,000 to 800,000 Romanies, grouped into 40 regional branches. According to Petrescu, Lăzurică was suffering indignities because he had refused to align his movement with any mainstream party, and in general for having "dared to advance his people into the human race." His marginalization greatly reduced his income: he was "starving to death" in a "small flat of the mahala". Despite his setbacks, Lăzurică remained active in the community. A report of August 1934 suggested that the Blaj Romanies, "verified and instructed by Lăzurică", were demanding racial quotas "in town and church affairs", and would not attend church until being granted such concessions. On September 10 of that year, the Voivode presided upon his own Romani congress at Sibiu; in a series of "10 commandments", delegates were asked to submit to both him and the Orthodox Church, to love Romania and its king, and to not steal or have sex outside marriage. Commenting on this document, journalist V. Munteanu suggested that Lăzurică had embraced dictatorial means without having the needed charisma, and that his channeling of Orthodoxy would naturally alienate Romanies of other religious backgrounds. The congress of Sibiu was soon followed by rallies at Diciosânmartin (October 1934) and Ploiești (April 1935). As noted by Ellenzék newspaper, he had grouped a new circle of loyalists, including architect Andrei (András) Zima of Blaj, "who outlined the self-sacrificing work of Grand Voivode G. A. Lăzurică in unifying all Gypsies"; other disciples were Adam Bunaciu of Târnava-Mică and Gheorghe Sicra of Târnava-Mare. Ellenzék reported that Lăzurică's new organization was meeting some opposition from Magyarized Romanies, who were annoyed that all speeches