New Delhi: Four days after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) skirted the demands of “full-time leadership” raised by 23 party leaders in a letter, one of the signatories, former Union minister Jitin Prasada, has come under fire from Gandhi family loyalists.
The Congress unit in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district Wednesday passed a resolution demanding Prasada’s expulsion.
A day later, a leaked audio clip began doing the rounds on social media, where Lakhimpur Kheri Congress head Prahlad Patel is purportedly heard suggesting that the resolution was passed on the direction of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is the Congress general secretary in-charge of UP, and Dheeraj Gurjar, the party’s secretary in-charge of the state.
“Dheeraj Gurjar, Priyanka Gandhi jo bhi karwa dein thik hee hai (whatever Dheeraj Gurjar and Priyanka Gandhi get done is fine),” he is purportedly heard saying in the clip.
The man believed to be Patel then goes on to say that he is not against Prasada, but signed the resolution under pressure. “Dheeraj Gurjar ne prastaav bheja, humne kaha hum sign nahi kar paaenge… lekin upar se talwar latki thi hum bhi kya karte (Dheeraj Gurjar sent the proposal, I said I won’t be able to sign it. But there was pressure on us from the top, what could we have done?),” he said.
Reached for comment, Patel did not deny that it is his voice in the audio, and said he didn’t know who had leaked it.
“Rajneeti may kab kaun dost ho jaaye, kaun dushman, pata nahi chalta (you never know in politics when someone becomes your friend or enemy),” he said, adding that he was only doing “my job”.
Prasada refused to comment when ThePrint called him on the phone, but sources close to him said he couldn’t be removed by the district or even the state unit since he is a member of the CWC. “Jitin is a special invitee in the Congress Working Committee,” one of the sources added.
UP Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu, meanwhile, defended the resolution, saying party workers are “within their rights” to make such demands.
“Yeh karyakartao ki bhawana hai, unki bhawna koi kaise rok sakta hai (these are the sentiments of party workers, how can anyone stop them)?” Lallu told ThePrint. Workers, he said, are free to protest as there is “internal democracy” in the party.
Also Read: Hooda, Azad, Chavan among host of leaders who want change of leadership in Congress
Prasada finds support
Among other things, the resolution alleges that Prasada’s family has always been against the Gandhi family.
“All over UP, there is only one leader, former minister Jitin Prasada, who has signed the letter. His family has been against the Gandhi family. His father, the late Jitendra Prasad, had contested the election against Sonia Gandhi. Despite this, Sonia Gandhi gave him (Jitin) a Lok Sabha ticket and he was made a minister,” said the resolution, addressed to interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
“His act is gross indiscipline and action should be taken against him,” the resolution added.
Slogans demanding Prasada’s expulsion were also raised at the district’s Congress office Wednesday.
While the resolution says Prasada is the only leader from UP to sign the ‘leadership change’ letter, its signatories also included former state Congress president Raj Babbar.
Prasada has found open support among the other signatories of the letter, who claim he is being “officially” targeted.
“Unfortunate that Jitin Prasada is being officially targeted in UP. Congress needs to target the BJP with surgical strikes instead of wasting its energy by targeting its own,” senior leader Kapil Sibal tweeted.
Unfortunate that Jitin Prasada is being officially targeted in UP
Congress needs to target the BJP with surgical strikes instead wasting its energy by targeting its own
— Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) August 27, 2020
Former Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari endorsed Sibal’s tweet.
Prescient! https://t.co/jgLhFRK9DX
— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) August 27, 2020
Also Read: Can’t deny top Congress leadership inaccessible — Aiyar, Chacko, Shastri back letter to Sonia
The God like Gandhis ……. just laughable.
This is so shameful. Its really Gandhi Private Limited. Indian National Congress is just a bland facade !