GJ-CONG-ALPESH

Congress MLA in Gujarat and

OBC leader Alpesh Thakor, who recently criticised the state

leadership of the party, met party president Rahul Gandhi in

New Delhi Thursday.

Speaking to reporters at the city airport after

returning here, Thakor claimed that Gandhi trusts him a lot.

"I apprised Rahul Gandhi of the current situation in

Gujarat and how the Congress can win in the state in Lok Sabha

elections.

"I also shared my views about the ways to strengthen

the party and how we can start preparations for the

elections," Thakor said.

"Rahul Gandhi said he has immense trust in me. He

offered to give me any responsibility of my choice. Such

offers are rare to come by in politics," Thakor claimed.

The Congress MLA from Radhanpur also said that though

he asked Gandhi to relieve him of the responsibility of Bihar,

the party president asked him to continue.

Thakor is the Congress secretary in-charge of Bihar.

"I told him I want to work only in Gujarat. But he

asked me to continue with Bihar too. He even indicated that I

would be given responsibility of other states, which he will

discuss with me after he comes back from Dubai," said Thakor.

On his criticism of the Gujarat Congress leadership,

Thakor maintained that it was not a "rebellion".

"I am an honest man. I will speak if something is not

going in the right direction. If we do not speak, how would we

correct our mistakes? I only spoke truth. It should not be

labelled as a rebellion," he said.

The young OBC leader had said recently that his

community and supporters were feeling "cheated" and "ignored",

which was seen as a criticism of the state leadership.

"Weak leaders" were at the helm of party affairs in

Gujarat, he had said in an apparent reference to Gujarat

Congress president Amit Chavda. PTI PJT PD

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