As two tainted congress men fight it out in public revealing their worst kept secrets, Kashmir watches in silence. Syed Asma reports whatever is coming out of the closet

GA-MirIndiscipline and unparliamentarily language can’t be tolerated – is a message spread within ranks in the oldest unionist political party these days!

The high command in New Delhi (read Sonia Gandhi) strongly reacted to the objections raised against her decision. She, rather than, listening to their objections showed them the door, Abdul Gani Vakil, Gulchain Singh Charak and Prem Sagar Aziz bore the brunt.

Vakil serving state Congress party for more than 40 years is suspended from the basic membership after he objected to the appointment of G A Mir as Pradesh Congress Committee’s (PCC) president in J&K.

“I think I have valid reasons to object,” says Abdul Gani Vakil. “Mir is a junior Congress man and the most tainted one in the party, how can he be elevated to the position of a president?” asks Vakil.

G A Mir, the PCC president, supposed to be a close aide of the party high command, Sonia Gandhi, was one of the prime accused in infamous sleaze racket of 2006. Mir was put behind bars for almost 12 months. It was after the witnesses of the case turned “hostile”, all the prime accused, including G A Mir, were exonerated.

But the Congress loyalists consider Mir a “clean man” as they “trust the country’s judicial system”.

Besides, Mir – the PCC president – believes that people ‘envious of him’ have “deliberately put his name in the list of accused”. He says it took him eight years to “clean his name”.

Angry, Mir adds, “The court of law has exonerated me. What more does Vakil want?”

Vakil says he has time and again opposed Mir’s presence in the party after his name was listed as an accused in the racket but the party high command never paid “much attention rather elevated him to president’s position which is unacceptable to most of the senior members”. “Some talk some don’t!”

Calling Indian National Congress, an undemocratic party, Vakil blames its president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi for his suspension and says, “Hereditary rule is worst kind of the rule and can ruin any party.”

He says the mother-son duo is ruining the party by projecting corrupt and tainted people like G A Mir.

The three suspended members of the Congress believe that Mir’s elevation in the party was an undemocratic, unilateral and arbitrary decision.

Reacting to the press statement of the suspended members, G A Mir, asserts “I don’t think they have a problem with my appointment as a president. What triggered their protest was they felt ignored when the high command took the decision.”

Abdul-Gani-VakilBut, he quickly adds, “Vakil met Sonia Gandhi at least thrice before the announcement was made.”

Another reason for which Mir’s appointment is opposed is of being a junior member. Vakil claims Mir has joined the party in the year 2000 but Mir says, “they don’t know, but I have joined Indian National Congress back in the times of Rajiv Gandhi in 1996 and have served almost in every part of India.” “Does 32 years make me a junior?”

After a pause Mir continues, “I think Vakil should first look into his deeds and then talk about others.”

The other two in the list of expulsion are senior members Gulchain Singh Charak and Prem Sagar Aziz.

The party sources say that all the three were suspended after they “spoke against the party openly in the media”. It is said that Charak, a pro Dogra politician was accused of creating groups within the party. “It cannot be acceptable to any party,” sources say. “He even spoke against Rahul Ji.”

A day after the former minister Gulchain Singh Charak was suspended he accused Rahul Gandhi for encouraging ‘yes men’ at various levels while ignoring the “dedicated workers”.

Charak, the former member of the Congress Working Committee alleged that the party workers are feeling humiliated. “Rahul Gandhi’s policies would break the party.”

“For the last quite some time, I have been trying to convince Congress high command about the malfunctioning of the party and alienation from the masses. Instead of taking corrective measures, blunder after blunder is being committed by the leaders,” Charak said while addressing the press personnel.

Interestingly, the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee, led by G A Mir, welcomed the decision of the high command to take disciplinary action against three politicians of the party in order to check indiscipline, which was harming the interest of the party.

The names were recommended by the Central Disciplinary Committee and the state disciplinary committee was asked to take the required action. T Naamdayal, who is presently heading the committee, said, “they shot a notice at all three of them and asked them to present their part but they did not respond. Consequently they were suspended.”

The members of state disciplinary committee say it was anyway an “irreversible decision as the directions had come from New Delhi”.

A spokesperson of the party Ravinder Sharma said, “the action had been taken against them in view of their continued acts of omission and commission, which was tantamount to gross indiscipline and anti-party activities, harming the interests and maligning the image of the party.”

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