UP district Cong unit targets Jitin Prasada for signing letter

A district Congress unit in the state has passed a resolution seeking disciplinary action against Jitin Prasada, one of the signatories to the controversial letter signed by 23 party leaders seeking a revamp of the organisation. Calling it a letter against the party’s leadership, the district unit said it indicated that the signatories had no faith in Sonia Gandhi and the Congress.

A district Congress unit in the state has passed a resolution seeking disciplinary action against Jitin Prasada, one of the signatories to the controversial letter signed by 23 party leaders seeking a revamp of the organisation. The party’s Lakhimpur Kheri unit convened an emergency meeting on Wednesday, two days after the Congress Working Committee meeting where the letter kicked up a storm.

Its resolution criticised the signatories to the letter, seen by many in the Congress as a challenge to the leadership of Sonia Gandhi. But Prasada was specifically targeted. Kapil Sibal and Manish Tiwari, who too had signed the letter, on Thursday criticised the move against Prasada.

The former Union minister has in the past been elected to the Lok Sabha from Dhaurahra, which falls in Lakhimpur Kheri district. “'There is only one signatory from Uttar Pradesh, Jitin Prasada, former minister,” the resolution by the district Congress said.

“His family history has been against the Gandhi family and his father Jitendra Prasada had also contested an election against Sonia Gandhi. Yet, Sonia Gandhi gave him the ticket and made him an MP and a minister,” it said. It accused Prasada of “gross indiscipline” and demanded strict disciplinary action against him.

“Sonia Gandhi is the only acceptable leader in the party. We have full faith in Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi. If there is any change in leadership, Rahul Gandhi should be made the national president,” it said. Calling it a letter against the party’s leadership, the district unit said it indicated that the signatories had no faith in Sonia Gandhi and the Congress. It accused them of acting as the BJP.

The Lakhimpur Kheri unit also sent a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi, informing her about the resolution. A day before the CWC meeting in Delhi, state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu and some other senior UP Congress leaders had issued a statement saying that the letter's signatories did not represent the views of party workers and office bearers.

Reacting to the Lakhimpur Kheri unit’s resolution, Kapil Sibal tweeted, “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." PTI SAB ASH ASH.