Newly appointed Congress secretary in-charge of Punjab Asha Kumari on Monday rejected demands for her resignation asserting she had party chief Sonia Gandhi’s “full mandate” with whom she also had a satisfactory meeting. Kumari accused the BJP, the AAP and the Shiromani Akali Dal of unnecessarily making an issue out of a “non-issue”. The Congress, for its part, attacked the BJP by citing the cases of its leaders like party president Amit Shah, Yeddyurappa and Keshav Prasad Maurya.
“I am sorry, I cannot oblige them,” Asha said talking to media, rejecting calls for her resignation. The appointment of Kumari, a niece of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and four-term MlA from Dalhousie, has kicked up a storm after it emerged that she had been convicted in a land grab case in which she had allegedly transferred forest land to her husband’s name. She was sentenced to a year in jail but is currently out on bail.
The information, coming as it did close on the heels of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath relinquishing the post of general secretary in-charge of Punjab, days after being appointed, over allegations of his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, is reported to have caused embarrassment to the party.
AICC sources said Kumari will not continue as AICC secretary in-charge of Haryana, a responsibility she was handling for some time. Kamal Nath continues to be AICC general secretary in-charge of Haryana even after relinquishing the charge of Punjab.
BJP, AAP and SAD were quick to assail the Congress leadership for appointing Kumari the secretary in-charge of the party in Punjab which will have assembly polls next year, saying the party was not serious about the state.
“It is for parties to decide who is going to lead the party. If somebody is there in government, it is a different issue,” Kumari said, adding AAP cannot decide who will lead the Congress in which state.
Congress lashed out at the BJP for its criticism on the issue, saying “Amit Shah is an accused in a murder case who is out on bail”.
“BJP President Amit Shah is charged of murder and is out on bail. He is an accused in a murder case. Yeddyurappa (who has been made BJP chief in Karnataka) is accused of corruption. Ten cases are pending against Keshav Prasad Maurya who has been made BJP chief in Uttar Pradesh,” party spokesman Kapil Sibal said at AICC briefing.
Sibal alleged some BJP Ministers in Gujarat continued to occupy their posts despite being “convicted” by courts. He said the matter involving Asha Kumari was a “highly complicated and complex” land issue and “not a case of murder and graft”.
Defending herself in the case in which she was convicted and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment, Asha Kumari said, “It has become fashionable to use the word ‘land grabbing’. How can I grab the land which belongs to my father-in-law.”
Kumari said the case was related to a property which was owned by her father-in-law and the tenants had forged some papers to claim ownership, which was challenged in court.
A note circulated by the AICC after the briefing gave a detailed description of the case and claimed she was a “victim of political vendetta” carried out through courts and that she will be acquitted by the Himachal Pradesh High Court, which is hearing her appeal.