Congress Secretary Sajjan Singh Verma hit out at party leader Manish Tewari and said he is a “disloyal person” who “destroys his party”.
Verma slammed Tewari for “raising questions” over Sonia Gandhi instead of showing condolences at a time when she lost her mother.
In a series of tweets on Wednesday Verma said, “How can there be a fair and free election without a publicly available electoral roll? Essence of a fair and free process is names & addresses of electors must be published on @INCIndia website in a transparent manner.”
“Manish Tiwari benefitted from Congress his entire life. There is no problem in raising questions. But putting it out in the open on social media, that too, at a time when Sonia Gandhi lost her mother. Instead of expressing condolences, he is questioning her,” Verma said.
Talking to the media Verma said, once Sonia and Rahul Gandhi return from abroad they will decide the election process.
“Congress, unlike BJP, is not a party made of missed calls. Manish Tiwari has been in Congress for a number of years, every worker works hard to make a candidate win. Manish Tiwari is a disloyal person who destroys his own party,” Verma added.
Meanwhile, the question being asked about Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi being the party president, Verma said, they are “bound by the Nehru-Gandhi family”.
“The election of the president will be held and a prudent person will become the party chief once again. We want Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi to become the president. We are bound by the Nehru Gandhi family. We want those to be the chief who contributed to the freedom struggle. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi sacrificed their lives, so we want a chief from that family only,” Verma said.
Earlier on Wednesday Karti Chidambaram tweeted and said, “Every election needs a well-defined and clear electoral college. The process of forming the electoral college must also be clear, well-defined, and transparent. An ad hoc electoral college is no electoral college.”
Over Karti Chidambaram’s tweet, Tewari’s remarks came and said, “Why should someone have to go to every PCC office in the country to find out who the electors are? This does not happen in a club election also with great respect. In interests of fairness and transparency, I urge your good self to publish the entire list of electors on the Congress website. How can someone consider running if he/she does not know who the electors are? If someone has to file his/her nomination and gets it proposed by 10 Congresspersons as is requirement CEA can reject it saying they are not valid electors.”
Moreover, last week Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned from Congress and wrote a five-page letter to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi.
“The entire administrative election process is a farce and a sham. At no place anywhere in the country have elections been held at any level of the organization. Handpicked lieutenants of the AICC have been coerced to sign on lists prepared by the coterie that runs the AICC sitting at 24, Akbar Road,” Azad wrote.
Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi, Azad wrote, “Since the 2019 elections the situation in the party has only worsened. After Rahul Gandhi stepped down in a ‘huff’ and not before insulting all the senior Party functionaries who have given their lives to the party in a meeting of the extended Working Committee, you took over as interim President. A position that you have continued to hold even today for the past three years.”
However, on Sunday the Congress Working Committee (CWC) decided that the election for the Congress president post will be held on 17 October, and on 19 October counting of votes will be held.