Congress high command shortlists names of leaders who fanned the Amitabh Bachchan controversy.
A couple of days after chief minister Ashok Chavan courted controversy by sharing the dais with actor Amitabh Bachchan at a public function, the Congress high command is taking a hard look at party insiders who orchestrated the campaign to malign the state leadership.
“While it is true that the Nationalist Congress Party may have wanted to play some prank against Chavan by inviting Bachchan, the execution of the entire episode was a well-calculated move on the part of senior Congress leaders in Mumbai,” a senior All India Congress Committee (AICC) functionary said.
The party’s national leadership has taken note of the fact that some leaders in the state started a secret campaign to put Chavan in trouble instead of undertaking a damage control exercise to bail him out.
“We have exact details and names of individuals who are working against Chavan with the ulterior motive to destablise him in Maharashtra, he said, adding ``The individuals who played the dirty game against him will not be spared.”
Sensing trouble, the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee chief Kripa Shankar Singh and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Manikrao Thakre rushed to Delhi to seek an audience with the top leaders. According to sources, “Singh wanted to appraise Congress president Sonia Gandhi about the development and how he had no role in the episode.”
Another senior AICC leader closely monitoring the development
said, “A Mumbai leader who dropped the name of high command
Sonia Gandhi to intimidate Chavan will have to face the music.”
Sonia Gandhi will never allow personal and family relations to influence her political decisions. Let us not forget how appreciative she was when PA Sangma’s daughter became the Union minister. Sangma was her political rival, he said.
Sources in the party revealed, “The controversy also highlights the intra party differences. Both Singh and Thakre, who were once close to Chavan, are sulking ever since he refused to induct them in the cabinet.”
There are also some chief ministers in-waiting trying to work with Singh and Thakre to settle scores with Chavan, party insiders said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}