Two days after a Congress unit in Uttar Pradesh sought action against ex-union minister Jitin Prasada over a 'dissent' letter, which triggered a debate on the party leadership, Mr Prasada today said the "letter has been misconstrued". The letter - signed by 23 top leaders in the party - was the focus of a stormy seven-hour meet of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Monday.
"The letter is being misconstrued. I have full faith in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and they have full faith in me," the 46-year-old leader told news agency PTI, dismissing allegations that the purpose of the letter was to target the top leadership.
On Thursday, the Congress unit of UP's Lakhimpur Kheri district - around 130 km from Lucknow -- in a resolution addressed to interim party chief Sonia Gandhi called for action against all 23 signatories but singled out Jitin Prasada, the party's Brahmin face in UP. Mr Prasada had represented the Dhaurahra Lok Sabha seat, which is a part of Lakhimpur Kheri, in 2009.
"Jitin Prasada is the only person from Uttar Pradesh to have signed the letter. His family history has been against the Gandhi family and his father Jitendra Prasad proved it by fighting elections against Sonia Gandhi. Despite this, Sonia Gandhi gave Jitin Prasada a Lok Sabha ticket and made him a minister. What he has done is gross indiscipline and the district Congress committee wants strict action against him and condemns his actions," the resolution read.
Today, Mr Prasada told PTI that the "letter was written with the sole purpose of suggesting how to reinvigorate and revitalise the party, and introspect for galavnising the organisation. It was not to undermine the top leadership. I had stated this at the Congress Working Committee meeting as well."
Senior leader Kapil Sibal, another signatory to the letter, had on Thursday criticised the resolution in a tweet. "Unfortunate that Jitin Prasada is being officially targeted in UP Congress needs to target the BJP with surgical strikes instead wasting its energy by targeting its own," he wrote.
On Monday, after the seven-hour meeting, the Congress said Sonia Gandhi would continue as the interim chief until an All India Congress Committee (AICC) meeting, which will be called within six months. The Congress also decided to set up a committee to examine the grievances of the ginger group of 23 leaders.
(With inputs from PTI)
