Day after Rahul's visit, PCC expels three members

A day after Rahul Gandhi visited Uttarakhand to take stock of party affairs, the state Congress today expelled three of its members, including former general secretary Rao Afaque, and served notices to five charging them with anti-party activities.
Afaque, Naim Qureshi and R K Walia had been expelled from the party for six years for indulging in anti-party activities and hurting the party's image, PCC spokesman Dhirendra Pratap said.
Qureshi was an ex-member of Jwalapur Municipality and Walia was recently made a Convenor of the Kisan Congress, the PCC spokesman said.
The decision to expel them was taken at a meeting of the PCC chaired by its president Yashpal Arya, Pratap said adding it was a collective decision which had the consent of AICC leaders.

Pratap, also the secretary of the PCC's disciplinary committee, said the trio had used "foul" language against AICC in-charge of Uttarakhand Affairs Chaudhry Virendra Singh and "manhandled" him in the presence of Arya at the party office here, a day before Rahul's arrival on a stock-taking mission.
Walia even staged a sit-in outside the hotel where Rahul met party functionaries, Pratap said.
The PCC also issued show cause notices to five party workers for anti-party activities, he said.