'External elements' behind our expulsion, says UP Cong leaders

Expelled senior UP Congress leaders on Monday termed the party action against them "unfortunate" and blamed "external elements" for their expulsion.

Interacting with reporters at a press conference here, former UP minister Ramkrishna Dwivedi said, "We firmly believe in the ideology of the party and deeply saddened by the developments. It is extremely sad and unfortunate. The decision to expel us is uncalled for and it seems that there is a conspiracy by external elements who have infiltrated the party to destablise it."

"However, we will oppose it strongly. We would urge Congress president Sonia Gandhi to intervene and punish the guilty," he added.

 

Dwivedi also alleged that the constitution of the party was virtually "set ablaze" by the "external elements" and said none of the 10 expelled leaders was against the party.

"We want that the glory of the secular Congress be restored," he said.

Another former UP minister, Satyadev Tripathi, said, "We are shocked over the expulsion. The party constitution has been grossly violated. In the party constitution, there is a provision of giving seven days to give a reply after being served a notice. However, we were given only 24 hours."

He added that their expulsion took place in a hurried manner, which was a conspiracy by people having vested interests.

"This expulsion is illegal and undesirable. It has hurt the honour of party workers," Tripathi added.

In a statement issued here, the expelled leaders claimed that all of them were members of the All-India Congress Committee and only the party's central disciplinary committee had the right to expel them.

The expelled leaders will meet on November 30 to decide their next course of action.

The Congress' Uttar Pradesh unit on Sunday had expelled 10 of its senior leaders, including two former state ministers, for a period of six years for allegedly tarnishing the party's image and opposing its leadership at public forums.

The leaders were expelled from the primary membership of the Congress, a member of the party's disciplinary committee, Imran Masood, had said in a statement.

Former UP ministers Ramkrishna Dwivedi and Satyadev Tripathi, Siraj Mehdi (former MLC), Santosh Singh (former MP), Bhoodhar Narayan Mishra (former MLA), Vinod Chaudhary (former MLA), Nek Chandra Pandey (former MLA), Swayam Prakash Goswami (former chairman of the Youth Congress) and senior leader Sanjeev Singh were expelled, the statement said.

The expelled leaders are accused of opposing the decisions of the party leadership at public forums and tarnishing its image, the statement said.