New Delhi, April 3 (IANS): Former Delhi MLA Amrish Gautam on Monday quit the Congress and joined the BJP, while former Congress minister A.K. Walia threatened to quit over ticket distribution for the April 23 civic polls in Delhi.
Former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely and former state Minister Haroon Yusuf also expressed concern over the functioning of the Congress state unit headed by former Union Minister Ajay Maken.
Gautam, a three-time MLA from Kondli in east Delhi, accused the Congress of fielding candidates for the civic elections without consulting him. His son Avinash Gautam too joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Senior Delhi Congress leader Walia too threatened to resign. “I am deeply pained… we keep trying their (leaders) phone numbers for two-three days but there is no reply. We have to handle party workers; all work is stalled.”
He told media persons: “Today (Monday) was the final day (of filing nominations) and things have not been finalised yet. If they think they don’t need us, they should tell us. Earlier, such things never happened in our party. There has always been a democratic system in the party.”
He said some people have started thinking they have got a lot of power and hence whatever they do is right.
“This system is wrong. Earlier too we had issues, but the high command resolved the same. I don’t know what kind of atmosphere are they trying to create this time,” Walia told reporters in an indirect attack on Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken.
Walia said he had conveyed his anger to the Congress high command.
He was also Chairman of the Trans-Yamuna Area Development Board.
Reacting to the developments, Lovely said: “It is very unfortunate that Amrish Gautam left the Congress while senior leader A.K. Walia has threatened to quit. A leader like Walia can’t revolt unless his self-respect is hurt. Whatever is happening with him is not good. We need to change our attitude. We need to give respect to senior leaders. If Walia leaves the Congress, it will be a major setback.”
Lovely, a former Minister, added: “I have also been the state unit President. It is his duty and responsibility to ensure all party leaders and workers stay together. The party leadership needs to address all these issues.”
He, however, said that he did not expect anything from the current state leadership.
All India Congress Committee Spokesperson Manish Tewari refused to comment, saying queries related to civic polls should be addressed to the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee.
