The central leaders are also worried about the line where Thakre allegedly says: “We have to send the funds to higher ups in Delhi.”
The ‘zhenda march’ at Sewagram was meant to enhance the image of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, but the ‘funding’ controversy surrounding the event left it sullied.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has not taken kindly to it.
A day after the video footage of Maharashtra Congress Committee (MPCC) president Manikrao Thakre’s indiscreet uttering on the sources of funding for the rally made it to the media, Ahmed Patel, Sonia Gandhi’s political advisor and AICC general secretary, and AK Antony, Union defence minister and the person in charge of Maharashtra affairs, have called for the footage and transcripts.
They will assess the quantum of damage caused by the state Congress to the high command’s image.
The central leaders are also worried about the line where Thakre allegedly says: “We have to send the funds to higher ups in Delhi.”
A senior cabinet minister said, “The purpose of the ‘zhenda march’ was to take Mahatma Gandhi’s message to the grassroots. But in the end, it adversely affected the image of Sonia Gandhi. The Congress’ money power became the talking point instead,’’ he said.
The party is worried about the loose manner in which the state leaders dragged the role of the central authority and the name of chief minister Ashok Chavan into funds collection, said a senior AICC functionary.
“The Congress, which is extremely careful about guarding the image of the Gandhi family, is unlikely to let go of the incident without action,” he said.
The party has already received letters from district office-bearers and cabinet ministers complaining about the methods adopted for fund collection. The development has also provided Thakre’s rivals an opportunity to intensify the campaign for his ouster as MPCC president.
However, in a damage control move, Union minister for heavy industries Vilasrao Deshmukh and Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde have expressed solidarity with Chavan. The chief minister looked tense all through the meeting at Sewagram on Friday. The video footage bringing out the differences in the party a day before Sonia’s visit had left him worried. Moreover, there were even talks on Thursday night of the AICC president cancelling the rally.
A close aide of the chief minister said, “Chavan’s biggest worry was to ensure sizeable crowd. He worked all night to monitor the function.” Even Thakre heaved a sigh of relief as Sonia attended the rally.
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