 "Sanjay Nirupam")
Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) chief Sanjay Nirupam's rivals are gunning for his resignation after controversy over two articles in the party mouthpiece. But the All India Congress Committee (AICC) thinks any action would only worsen the divides in the party.
AICC general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra, Mohan Prakash, told the Business Standard: “Nirupam has already apologised and action has already been taken against some of those who were directly responsible. We shall see if any others need to be penalised.“
The episode had embarrassed the party, when it was commemorating its 131st foundation day. The December issue of the Congress Darshan magazine had 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, stating that he should have listened to the advice of his home minister Sardar Patel. Nehru became the first prime minister of independent India in 1947. Patel was one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress during the struggle for Indian independence. During the first three years of Indian independence after 1947, he served as deputy prime minister, minister of home affairs, minister of information, and minister of states.
AICC distanced itself from the controversy, saying that the Congress Darshan magazine was a “defunct” publication.
Nirupam had sacked Sudhir Joshi, a freelance journalist who had written the piece, from the post of content editor of the magazine. He also apologised for the error. He also blamed his rivals in the party. He said, “They leaked it to the media on a day that is most auspicious for Congressmen. This is anti-party activity. They wanted to target me and embarrass the party. There should be an inquiry into this, to find out who was behind it.”
Senior state Congress leaders have for long been wary of entrants like Nirupam, a former Shiv Sena member. Nirupam had also been the editor of the Hindi edition of the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Dopahar Ka Saamna.
Eyebrows went up when, in a brief span, Nirupam managed to gain access to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and was appointed chief of Mumbai Regional Congress Committee in March.
While most Congressmen demanding Nirupam’s ouster did not want to be named, former Maharashtra Congress minister Naseem Khan demanded that Nirupam be dismissed from job for “insulting” the party leadership.
