Raising voice of resentment against the Party high command proved fatal for a senior Congress leader who was chased away by the members of the Sewa Dal.
The sensational incident took place during Republic Day celebration here at Party state head-quarter on Thursdaymorning.
Interestingly, the chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Disciplinary Committee (UPCDC) Ram Krishna Dwivedi was present as chief guest when the leader aired his resentment but even after passing of more then 24-hours, not even a notice was served, either to the leader or the members of Sewa Dal who chased away their own senior colleague.
Sources in the Party confirmed that former minister and senior Congress leader belonging to minority community, who was not reportedly happy with the alliance of the Party with Samajwadi Party, had attended the Party’s Republic Day Flag hoisting ceremony at UPCC office on Thursday. The leader suddenly took the mike and claiming that he took his senior colleague Ram Krishna Dwivedi as representative of state president Raj Babbar and wanted to register his resentment in the manner in which some `Dalal’ had made deal of the Party in the name of alliance.
The leader also made objectionable comments on the high command after which the members of the Sewa Dal, who were responsible to maintain harmony and discipline during the function objected that Flag Hoisting in not a platform to abuse the leadership. The matter took an ugly turn when some agitated members came on stage to manhandle former minister after which he rushed to save himself. The leader was however chased away from Party office. Two days back also, some Youth Congress leaders raised slogan against the leadership for going in alliance with SP.
Meanwhile Congress also hold the candidature of Sushil Pasi from Bachrawa Assembly constituency of Rae Bareli Parliamentary constituency. UPCC media chairman Satyadeo Tripathi claimed here on Friday that all the seats of Rae Bareli, represented in Parliament by Sonia Gandhi and Amethi represented by Rahul Gandhi will be announced together later on. However, sources said that the ticket was withhold by the Congress as Pasi is known to close with RK Chowdhary, who will contest on BJP ticket from adjacent Mohanlalganj seat. The Party apprehend that Pasi could leave Congress any time to join BJP.
It may be mentioned that Congress and Samajwadi Party are haggling over seats in Amethi and Rae Bareli, the parliamentary turf of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul. Congress, which managed to get 105 of the 403 seats under
the seat-sharing deal with the SP after hard negotiations, is in no mood to give up its claim over all the ten seats in Amethi-Rae Bareli.
Sources said the Party was perturbed as none of the 5 candidates declared by its alliance partner earlier has been withdrawn by SP. “SP had announced 5 candidates in these parliamentary constituencies before the alliance was sealed but since then no name has been withdrawan and local Congress leaders are
especailly perturbed over the issue,” a senior Congress leader said here on Friday. Though both the sides are more or less agreeable to a broad understanding that Congress will get 6 and SP 4, local leaders and workers are not ready to give up either Amethi or Gauriganj Assembly seats from where SP has already announced its candidates, he said.
Congress, which is looking for a major share, also wants freedom to choose its nominees rather than blindly following the “sitting-getting” formula. “Giving tickets only on the basis of previous performance will only benefit rivals and we cannot afford to see reverses for failure to forsee them,” he said. Without assessing the situation and winnability of each candidate before fielding them would be like helping BSP, he said, citing the example of Sareni in Rae Bareli.
SP has given ticket to its sitting MlA in Sareni but situation there has undergone a major change since 2012 and now even their supporters are against them, he said, apprehending that the seat could go to BSP in case the same
candidate is repeated. It is essential that both the alliance partners work
towards assessing each others’ strong and weak points seat-wise or else it will cause more harm than benefit to the ideals for which both the parties have come together, he said.
The leaders and ticket aspirants in Amethi and Rae Bareli have already vented their displeasure over Congress being made to play second fiddle and have also aired their strong views publicly. They are now awaiting the party high command’s directives, the Congress leader said on condition of anonymity. “Negotiations are on at the highest level as per our information, with Priyanka Gandhi taking up our case with the SP leadership and we are hopeful of a favourable outcome,” he said.
Besides, there is confusion in the alliance over some seats in lucknow and some other constituencies like Saharanpur and Congress leaders are waiting for some clarity on them before they embark on electioneering, he said. SP holds eight of the 10 seats on Gandhi turf and has to drop sitting MlAs in favour of Congress. Since Amethi and Rae Bareli go to polls in the 4th and 5th phase, it might take some more time for the two parties to resolve the matter.