Nowadays, not only outsider but Congress party members also criticizing the party’s leadership as the party’s success graph is declining. Members are seeing their and party’s future in dark because of the Gandhis. They too realized that neither Gandhis nor Vadras would be able to save the party. In Pune, Congress workers created a ruckus at a seminar organised by Maharashtra Congress secretary Shehzad Poonawalla at Congress Bhavan where party MP Shashi Tharoor and Shehzad’s younger brother, Tehseen, were the main speakers. The workers shouted slogans saying that connections with Robert Vadra did not make the Poonawallas party bigwigs. Actually Tehseen Poonawalla, a Pune born, is a columnist with several newspapers and magazines. He is a regular on the party circuit and is often featured on Page 3 as well as various fashion magazines. A rich man, source of funding but his contribution to the party on ground level is zero. Recently, Tehseen Poonawalla and Monika Vadra got married. Tehseen is a Congress Party supporter whereas Monika Vadra is the cousin sister of Robert Vadra, who is husband to Priyanka Gandhi. So they might have thought after marriage to Vadras, the brothers can have upper hand in Congress, but its leaders shunted them blatantly by refusing to accept their leadership in the party.
He is a regular guest on television and news channels speaking his observation points on matters of national importance, projecting himself to be a true secular Indian. The grassroots level party workers are not willing to accept such dude type people taking over the party in any means. There were thousands of Congress party workers, who are working at panchayat level in villages from ages, but never received due credit for it. One such worker and city leader Vishwajeet Kadam had been sidelined in the seminar, so the party workers promptly raised slogans in support of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi, contended that local figures had not been taken into confidence before the seminar. They had not allowed Shehzad to speak, for which Pune Congress Chief Ramesh Bagwe making an appeal to them to stop their sloganeering.
Seeing that the party workers were unrelenting, Tharoor took the mike and said that no city level official would be sidelined and that he was going to meet Kadam. Tharoor tried his level best to control the situation but workers were still firm that they would not allow either of the brothers to speak and continued with their slogans.
The auditorium was silent when Tharoor was giving his speech, but the sloganeering began again as soon he handed over the mike to Tehseen. Later, they tore up posters of the Poonawalla brothers. Former Congress corporator Laxman Arde told Tharoor and other leaders that the party cannot grow if “such leadership” is going to be imposed. What is the use of the efforts taken by local leaders if they are going to be sidelined? He asked. Other leaders too joined in chorus. Poonawalla was humiliated by his own party workers.
Recently, posters showing Robert Vadra’s face along with Sonia Gandhi herself and Rahul Gandhi during the mega ‘Loktantra Bachao Yatra’’ too sparked rumours of the businessman finally dipping his toes in the murky waters of politics. However, a Congress worker and Gandhi loyalist reportedly erected the posters without sanction. Such small incidences are bothering some big shot Congress leaders.
In Pune, the tension has been brewing at the Congress Bhavan. Shehzad came there with bouncers and “insulted local leaders”. Some posters of Poonawallas were either torn up or defaced too, following which police imposed section 149 of the CrPC (preventive action to maintain peace). Anyway, things are yet to be settled down in party. However, one thing is for sure that there is nothing alright in the party.
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