Skipped Rahul Gandhi's Mumbai visit due to my ill health: Gurudas Kamat

Senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat on Monday clarified that he could not be part of party Vice President Rahul Gandhi's recent Mumbai visit due to his ill health. Kamat also slammed his dectractors for spreading "false propaganda" about him that he had boycotted the Gandhi scion's tour.

Gandhi was on a tour to Mumbai on April 12, during which he visited the Deonar dumping ground that was recently in news due to the massive fires, after which he met jewellers, who had been on strike to oppose excise duty on gold jewellery. "I could not be a part of Rahul ji's Mumbai tour as . There are some people, who have tried to potray that I had boycotted Rahul ji's tour, which is not true," the All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary said in a statement issued here.

The former Union Minister further said that he had conveyed his health problem and his inability to attend the programme to Gandhi. "There is no rift at all between me and the party High Command and there are people who are unnecessarily spreading false propoganda against me. Rahul ji is highly respected by everyone in the party," he said.

There are reported differences between Kamat and Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) chief Sanjay Nirupam, which has led to factional infighting within the city unit of the party.