UP Cong veterans get notices from party for 'indiscipline'

The Congress is taking disciplinary action against several party members in Uttar Pradesh following opposition to the revamp of the state unit in October by some old-timers. All India Congress Committee secretary Dhiraj Gurjar confirmed in New Delhi that notices have been sent to “several people” over “indiscipline”.

Whatever the seniority of the member, the party will take action if there is indiscipline, he told PTI when asked about developments related to the Uttar Pradesh unit. Gurjar, who is assigned to Uttar Pradesh (West) at the AICC, did not give any further details.

But the move appears to have been triggered by the absence of several party veterans from two recent meetings called by the new Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) chief Ajay Kumar Lallu. The veterans felt sidelined when the new UPCC) was formed by party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Some of them are now planning to meet party president Sonia Gandhi to voice their concerns, an old-timer, who did not wish to be named, said. A letter seeking an appointment for the delegation of about 20 people will shortly be mailed to her, he said.

Another disgruntled leader claimed that only 53 of the 325 invited people turned up on Wednesday at a meeting in Lucknow of former Congress MLAs, MLCs and MPs to discuss ways to revive the party in the state after its poor showing in the last parliamentary elections. At an earlier meeting, 75 district unit presidents were invited but only 17 turned up, he said.

Lallu and other new members were appointed to the UPCC by Priyanka Gandhi on October 7 in a move apparently meant to give a younger look to the organisation. Some veterans opposed the move.

"I have no fight with anyone and have been serving in the party since the past 30 to 40 years,” Siraj Mehdi, a former member of the UP legislative council, said on Thursday. “In the backdrop of what we are getting to hear, we only want that our role in the party be defined," he told PTI.

Mehdi had resigned from the membership of AICC and sent an emotional letter to Sonia Gandhi when the state unit was revamped. He had complained that the new UPCC gave no representation to the Shia community while claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party governments at the Centre and in UP had nominated Shias in key positions.

Mehdi claimed there was no place for leaders above 50 in the Congress. Another senior leader, former MP Rajesh Misra, had refused to be a part of the advisory council to which he was shifted after being removed from the UPCC.

"I am not in a position to offer any advice to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra," he had told reporters soon after the new committee was announced. The disgruntled leaders have held their own meetings recently to discuss the issue.

The first meeting took place at Mehdi’s home in the first week of November. On November 14, they organised their separate programme to pay tributes to former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, instead of attending the one organised at the UPCC headquarters.

The Congress propped young leaders in the new UPCC, moving old warhorses like Pramod Tiwari, P L Punia and R P N Singh to the advisory council. "There are senior leaders above 60 years in the central unit who have been working relentlessly for the party. If there is any constraint on age, it should be there also. Many in the new team are not even known to us,' another senior leader said.

Lallu had replaced Raj Babbar in October as the state unit chief. The revamped state unit has four vice presidents, 12 general secretaries and 24 secretaries. The team was trimmed to 67 office bearers from an unwieldy 500 earlier.

When asked to comment on the development, Lallu said, “The Congress is like a joint family and difference of opinion is natural. We have democracy in the organisation.” PTI SAB HAQ ASH ASH

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