Congress blooper exposes deep fault lines within party's Maharashtra unit

The Congress Darshan's December issue described Sonia Gandhi's father as a "fascist soldier" and was also critical of Jawaharlal Nehru's Kashmir and China policy

It couldn’t have been more badly timed. But on a day when India's Grand Old Party was commemorating its 131st Foundation Day, news emerged that a Mumbai Congress publication had been critical of Jawaharlal Nehru and the current party leadership. The Congress Darshan’s December issue carried two articles, one describing Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s father as a “fascist soldier”, and the other criticising Jawaharlal Nehru’s Kashmir and China policy and saying that he should have heeded his home minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel's advice.

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gloating over the blooper, the AICC distanced itself, stating it was a “defunct” publication. Immediately, there were demands for the sacking of Sanjay Nirupam, the president of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC), laying open the factionalism within the Congress in Maharashtra.    

Although Nirupam lost no time in sacking Sudhir Joshi, a freelance journalist, from post of content editor of the magazine and apologised, accepting responsibility for the blunder, the newly appointed Mumbai chief hinted at his “rivals” within the party being at work.

“They leaked it to the media on a day that is most auspicious for Congressmen," Nirupam alleged. "This is an anti-party activity. They wanted to target me and embarrassed the party. There should be an inquiry into who was behind this.”

Now, it is no secret that the Congress old guard and senior leaders in the state have always been wary of lateral entrants like Sanjay Nirupam. A former Shiv Sena hand, Nirupam had also been editor of the Hindi edition of the Sena mouthpiece Dopahar Ka Saamna.

Many within the party are not pleased with the fact that within a brief span of time, NIrupam has gained access to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and was appointed Mumbai unit president in March this year.

Former Maharashtra Congress Minister Nassim Khan went on record demanding that Nirupam be sacked for insulting the party leadership.

Party insiders believe it’s a clear case of sabotage as the magazine had been published for internal circulation on December 8 but was only brought to the attention of the media to time it with the foundation day celebrations.

It is well known that the likes of former Maharashtra chief ministers Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan and former party unit chief Gurudas Kamat have not been on the same page as Nirupam. However, Ashok Chavan, currently the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president, tried to downplay the issue saying that since Nirupam himself had clarified everything, he did not think it right to comment.

It did not help, either, that BJP’s Prakash Javadekar yesterday tweeted ‘#CongressDarshan-Congress has printed pages of history in their mouthpiece. Want to congratulate Sanjay Nirupam for revealing the truth.”