Robert Vadra kin steal show, Congressmen revolt

PUNE: Congress workers on Tuesday created a ruckus at a seminar organised here by Maharashtra Congress secretary Shehzad Poonawalla at Congress Bhavan where party MP Shashi Tharoor and Shehzad’s younger brother, Tehseen, were the main speakers. The workers shouted slogans saying that connections with Robert Vadra did not make the Poonawallas party bigwigs.
“You people cannot become our leaders only because you are someone’s relatives.What’s your contribution to the party?” asked Congress workers when Shehzad began giving his introductory remarks at the seminar titled, ‘Social media and political communication’. Tehseen recently married Robert Vadra’s cousin Monica.
The party workers, raising slogans in support of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi, contended that local figures had not been taken into confidence before the seminar and that city leader Vishwajeet Kadam had been sidelined. They did not allow Shehzad to speak, which saw city Congress chief Ramesh Bagwe making an appeal to them to stop their sloganeering.
Seeing that the party workers were unrelenting, Tharoor took the mike and said that no city level official would be sidelined and that he was going to meet Kadam. “Shehzad has invited me for an interaction on social media. If you don’t want to listen, you can leave the auditorium,” he said. But the workers were still firm that they would not allow either of the brothers to speak and continued with their slogans.
The auditorium got silent when Tharoor was giving his speech, but the sloganeering began again as soon he handed over the mike to Tehseen. Later, they tore up posters of the Poonawalla brothers.
Former Congress corporator Laxman Arde told Tharoor and other leaders that the party cannot grow if “such leadership” is going to be imposed. “What is the use of the efforts taken by local leaders if they are going to be sidelined?” he asked.
Speaking to the media later, Bagwe said he would talk to the party workers about the incident. Asked about the role and contribution of the Poonawallas in the party, Bagwe just said, “They work for the Congress.”
Kadam, who was in Delhi, told TOI that the party workers must have “expressed their feelings”. “But I was not present for the programme, and hence, cannot comment on what exactly happened.”
In an SMS to TOI, Shehzad said, “I would not comment on malicious rumours. I obey party discipline. I will give my version to my party leaders. All I can say is that a national leader had come to attend a party programme and he should not have been insulted.” MPCC chief Ashok Chavan, when contacted, said that he would collect information about the incident and decide what action could be taken.
Tension has been brewing at the Congress Bhavan since the last two days after, according to party workers, Shehzad came there with bouncers and “insulted local leaders”. Some posters of Poonawallas were either torn up or defaced on Monday too, following which police imposed section 149 of the CrPC (preventive action to maintain peace).
Also read this story in Marathi