ThePrint reached Surjewala for remark over cellphone and textual content message. The report will likely be up to date as soon as a response is acquired.
Whereas Chandra — a BJP-backed, unbiased candidate — defeated Anand to win the Rajya Sabha election from Haryana in 2016, Sharma received the 2022 Rajya Sabha election from the state by defeating the Congress’s Ajay Maken. The losses got here regardless of the Congress having comfy numbers within the Higher Home on each events.
Within the 2016 Rajya Sabha elections, 14 Congress votes polled within the Haryana meeting have been declared invalid, 12 of them for utilizing the unsuitable kind of ink. Surjewala, then a Congress MLA, additionally had his vote rejected, as he had reportedly confirmed his vote to a fellow MLA.
Within the 2022 election, Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi “cross-voted”, whereas get together chief Kiran Choudhary’s vote was reportedly discovered to be invalid. Choudhary has been the Tosham MLA in Haryana meeting since 2005. Final 12 months, Maken moved the Punjab and Haryana Excessive Court docket in opposition to Sharma’s victory.
Talking to ThePrint, Sharma stated that he didn’t need to reply to Krishnam’s allegations as he retains away from such controversies. ThePrint has additionally reached Chandra and his private assistant over cellphone and textual content message, the article will likely be up to date as soon as a response is acquired.
A two-time Congress Lok Sabha candidate — from Sambhal in 2014 and Lucknow in 2019 — Krishnam is presumably the one main Hindu spiritual chief who’s a part of the Congress’s UP unit.
Based mostly in UP’s Sambhal, Krishnam is the founding father of the Shri Kalki Basis in UP’s Sambhal district. Some mythological accounts declare it to be the place the place Kalki, the final of the Hindu deity Vishu’s avatars, would take beginning.
In 2018, the Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad had reportedly issued a listing of allegedly pretend spiritual leaders, which included Krishnam.
The chief is but to show his political mettle, having misplaced each Lok Sabha elections he fought, in 2014 and 2019, respectively. He has, nevertheless, been included among the many Congress’s star campaigners in a number of elections and in addition been seen on tv, espousing the get together stand throughout points.
Thought-about near Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Digvijaya Singh, in January this 12 months Krishnam hit out at his get together’s “manager” as “old and irrelevant” over the problem of Opposition unity in opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Social gathering (BJP) in 2024 basic elections.
His assaults on the get together turned extra intense after his identify didn’t function within the record of the Congress Working Committee members, introduced in August.
Final week, Krishnam alleged that “some leaders in the Congress only hate the Ram temple [being built in Ayodhya, and being touted by the BJP as a major achievement of the PM Modi government], but also [the Hindu deity] Ram.”
The Congress chief’s feedback have been in keeping with an announcement made two months again, when he had alleged some leaders of the get together have been allergic to Hindu faith and the phrase “Hindu”.
When questioned about Krishnam’s feedback, Surjewala, whereas talking in poll-bound MP was quoted within the media as saying earlier this month, “You leave these nonsensical persons and look here, what does a several-kilometre long queue [of women supporters in Indore] tell you… this Diwali will belong to the Congress)”.
In response, Krishnam took to his ‘X’ [previously Twitter] account Sunday to focus on Surjewala, alleging that it was “a misfortune for the Congress” that such “lafandar [loafer]” has been made the overall secretary of the get together, who as an MLA “committed the sin” of serving to Chandra win the Rajya Sabha election in 2016, “only to stop an obscene CD from becoming public”.
कांग्रेस के “भाग्य”
की विडंबना यही है कि एक ऐसे “लफ़ंडर”
को पार्टी का महासचिव बना रखा है जिसने राज्य सभा के चुनाव में “विधायक” रहते हुए भाजपा के उम्मीदवार और Zee न्यूज़ के मालिक सुभाष चंद्रा को जितवाने का “पाप” सिर्फ़ एक “अश्लील”
CD के “प्रसारण” को रुकवाने के लिये किया. https://t.co/uwgdDOQ9RZ— Acharya Pramod (@AcharyaPramodk) November 12, 2023
Because the BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi Saturday focused the Congress quoting Krishnam, the latter wrote in one other social media post that his get together had a “chandal chaukadi [devilish quartet]” which hated not solely [the deity] Ram, but in addition the cow [revered by many Hindus], the holy Ganga, Gita (a textual content sacred to the Hindus) and the gayatri (Vaidik mantra).
In dialog with ThePrint days later, Krishnam additionally accused Surjewala of deceptive get together employees after Rahul Gandhi’s resignation as Congress president in 2019 and blamed him for making media home “enemies of the party” throughout his tenure because the get together’s media in-charge.
He additionally claimed Priyanka Gandhi to be the “most popular” Congress chief, pushing for her being named as “prime ministerial candidate” of the Opposition bloc in opposition to the BJP for the 2024 election.
The Congress chief, nevertheless, dismissed allusions that his talking up in opposition to the get together indicated in direction of a attainable shift to the BJP, claiming them to be “rumours being spread by the Congress coterie”.
Additionally learn: ‘Which was the rebellion?’ Sachin Pilot compares his actions to Gehlot camp’s 2022 ‘revolt’
‘Surjewala misled party workers post Rahul’s resignation’
Speaking concerning the time following Rahul’s resignation as Congress president, following the get together’s debacle within the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Krishnam alleged whereas the Congress presidents saved altering, “the coterie of the leadership remained the same… that coterie is responsible for taking the Congress to the verge of destruction over the past eight-ten years.”
Krishnam added: “When Rahul Gandhi ji resigned from party presidentship in 2019, he made such a big sacrifice. He said that neither he nor anyone from his family will become president and it will be an outsider from hence forth. That decision should have been hailed, but a mockery was made of it.”
He additionally accused Surjewala of misinforming supporters of Rahul’s choice.
“Surjewala was the party’s media in-charge at the time. He kept giving misinformation to supporters and for a year, Congress workers were told that Rahul Gandhi is withdrawing his resignation…that he is upset and is being persuaded to withdraw resignation. This sent a very wrong message to the public,” Krishnam claimed.
He additional stated that purported assurances that Rahul Gandhi was being persuaded to withdraw his resignation, advised that he was a “upset like a child” moderately than that he was a “solid leader”.
“Rahul Gandhi ji too had indicated that he was pained that none from the working committee or the AICC had resigned after his resignation. While he tried to establish principles, the coterie showed its loyalty only for their posts. Those who never fought elections are taking decisions about who will fight,” Krishnam alleged.
He additionally claimed that each one Congress employees genuinely supporting Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have been “being targeted by the coterie around the leadership”.
Hitting out at Surjewala, he stated, “He [Surjewala] was handling the post of the Congress’s media in-charge for seven-eight years. In all these years, who is responsible for making the media houses the enemies of the Congress…. those journalists who would once sing praises of the Congress…who is responsible for this?”
Surjewala was changed by Jairam Ramesh as Congress’s media in-charge final 12 months.
Name for Priyanka to be declared as PM candidate
Whereas a number of senior Congress leaders together with former MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot have batted for Rahul Gandhi to be declared the get together’s prime ministerial candidate for 2024, Krishnam claimed Priyanka Gandhi to the preferred chief within the get together.
“If Rahul Gandhi is declared the prime ministerial candidate I will be very happy, but Priyanka Gandhi is the most popular leader of the party. If he doesn’t want to be [PM], the opposition should declare Priyanka Gandhi as a joint prime ministerial candidate. Earlier too, he [Rahul] didn’t want to be the party president,” stated Krishnam, who can be part of the advisory council to Priyanka Gandhi.
Krishnam additional claimed that there have been leaders within the Congress who have been allergic to faith and wished to disrespect spiritual leaders, and alleged it to be transferring away from the trail of Mahatma Gandhi to that of (Communist chief) Karl Marx.
Congress insiders claimed, nevertheless, that Krishnam was upset at not being made a working committee member.
“Krishnam did not find mention in the new list of working committee members declared in August. He has also been excluded from the party’s star campaigners list. He is trying to remain in limelight and suggest that he is still relevant. He like many other leaders are keeping their cards close to their chests till 3 December [when results to assembly election in five states will be declared]. If the party forms a government in more than two states, such leaders will hang on to the party else they will explore other options,” a UPCC member advised ThePrint.
Responding to such allegations, Krishnam stated, “Is talking about Ram a signal that someone will join the BJP? Is talking about Vande Mataram, bhagwa (saffron colour) a signal that someone is bhajpai (BJP supporter). If yes, then, founder of Congress Mahatma Gandhi was the biggest bhajpai because all his verses would start with Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram.”
He additional contended that he would combat subsequent 12 months’s Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate if the get together wished him to.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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