M Veerappa Moily, who launched a surprise attack on JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, has been abruptly removed as chairman of the Congress media department.
Veerappa Moily suddenly ceased to be Congress Party's chief spokesman on Saturday amid media speculation that he has been removed for his remarks against JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, whom the party has been wooing, but he tried to dispel that interpretation.
AICC General secretary Janardhan Dwivedi has been asked to look after the work of Moily, who said this was an "internal administrative arrangement" by the party.
In the morning, Moily himself said that he had given the charge to Dwivedi as he would be away in Karnataka till May 17. He has contested the Lok Sabha elections from Chikkaballapur in Karnataka and the results would be out on May 16.
However, when reporters approached him at his residence in Bangalore for comments he appeared agitated terming the reports as "mischievous news planted by someone".
"As I have been selected as a candidate from Chikkaballapur, somebody has to be in charge of the media cell. Dwivedi was put in temporary charge," he said.
The AICC order giving charge of the media department to Dwivedi was issued on March 31 after Moily's selection as party candidate.
As the media speculated that the party leadership was annoyed over Moily's attack on Nitish Kumar, a senior leader said "too much is being read into" the decision to give temporary charge to Dwivedi.
Rahul Gandhi had on Tuesday made remarks praising Kumar which were interpreted as attempts to woo the JD(U) as part of post-poll options.
On Friday, Moily had attacked Kumar saying Congress was not going to make a hero of him as he had aligned with the BJP and was carrying on with that relationship to continue as chief minister. That was polluting his secular credentials, he had said.
In a flip-flop, Moily had first attacked Railway minister Lalu Prasad and LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan in the wake of reports that they were boycotting the meeting of the union cabinet but later softened to say that they were part of the UPA and would be back in a UPA government.
Asked whether his remarks on Kumar had cost him his job, Moily said "it has nothing to do with Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar is not part of our party.
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