Maha MLC's outburst: Difficult to survive in state Congress

Senior MLC Anant Gadgil today said it would be difficult to survive in the Congress for the members like him if "high handedness" of certain individuals continues unchecked.
"It is the Congress president Sonia Gandhi who nominated me as party spokesperson in 2004. Yet, I am not allowed to function and perform. This means that Sonia ji is indirectly being vetoed by certain individuals. If this continues, it will be difficult for many hardcore Congressmen like me to survive in the party," Gadgil said.
He today wrote a letter to all the party MLAs, MPs, office-bearers and district presidents expressing his displeasure with the functioning of the state Congress unit.

"In the last 13 years that I have served as the party spokesperson, never has the Congress been in any trouble due to my statements.
"Also, I have not made myself a laughing stock by wrongly condoling a person's demise when he was alive, nor have I made personal remarks against any individual against the party's culture. While a formal press briefing was going on, I did not correct the statements made by the state Congress chief," Gadgil stated in the letter.
An earlier norm of the party spokespersons visiting the state Congress office to interact with the media is discontinued now, which has "impeded" the party's official stand from reaching people, it said.

Gadgil said he was not even informed about the press conference of former minister Kapil Sibal and the party's national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, held in February this year.

"Gandhi Bhavan (the state Congress office) has been handed over to the state government for the construction of the Mumbai Metro line, but we were not even informed about the party's decision to do so. Though the Congress has shifted its office, the NCP continues to operate from its office," he stated.
Ruing the party's defeat in the recently held Pune municipal corporation election, Gadgil said he was kept in the dark about the selection process of the candidates and that none of the aspirants recommended by him were given a ticket.

"As a result, we got only 9 corporators elected and suffered a massive defeat. While all this is happening in the Congress, I could not keep quiet anymore. Am I to understand that the party does not need people like me anymore?" he questioned.