Matang Singh’s ouster upsets senior Congmen

NEW DELHI, MARCH 1: Former Union Minister Matang Singh's expulsion from the Congress on Tuesday has ``upset'' many senior leaders in the p...

NEW DELHI, MARCH 1: Former Union Minister Matang Singh’s expulsion from the Congress on Tuesday has “upset” many senior leaders in the party and intensified the ongoing power struggle between Sonia loyalists and dissidents unhappy with her leadership.

While Singh’s expulsion may have been an attempt by Sonia to reassert her leadership and hit out at the rising dissidence in the party, the hurried manner in which it was gone through has raised doubts among partymen over its “credibility,” apart from making it appear that it was panic reaction from a nervous high command.

Among the leaders said to be unhappy with the manner in which Singh was dealt with are senior CWC members Manmohan Singh and R K Dhawan, both members of the party’s Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC). While Singh did not attend yesterday’s meeting due to his pre-occupation with chalking out the party’s reaction to the budget, Dhawan is believed to have voiced serious reservations to the suspension proposal and even walked out midway through the meeting.

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In fact, when Singh, a Sonia loyalist, was contacted by DAC chairman K Vijayabhaskara Reddy on Tuesday evening to attend the impromptu DAC meeting, he is reported to have questioned the urgency of the meeting and even suggested that it be postponed till a further date since he would not be able to attend.

Dhawan, known to be among those unhappy with the way the party is being run, questioned the wisdom of taking action against Singh barely a few days after a similar proposal had been rejected. He is also said to have suggested that the DAC first obtain a written report from AICC general secretary incharge of the North East, Ambika Soni, on the charges that Singh was involved in anti-party activities in Assam and that at least a showcause notice should be issued before any concrete action is taken.

All these objections were however overruled by Reddy, who along with AICC general secretary Oscar Fernandes and party MP Santosh Mohan Deb, okayed the proposal to “suspend Singh till further notice.” The suspension was later changed to expulsion for six years by the DAC. Reddy, till recently said to be in the dissidents’ camp, has been promised a Rajya Sabha nomination from Andhra Pradesh in the forthcoming elections.

A senior CWC member while questioning the validity and timing of the entire exercise felt that even if Singh was involved in anti-party activities there was no tearing hurry to pack him off, especially after pressurising Reddy with a Rajya Sabha offer.

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Following his expulsion, Matang Singh on Wednesday lashed out at Sonia and her coterie, which he said was responsible for his ouster from the party. Speaking to The Indian Express, Singh charged the Congress of being run like a private limited company under Sonia and her coterie of advisors. “The people who are responsible for my ouster are those who have no mass base and advise the Congress president from their air-conditioned drawing rooms,” he said, adding that the charges against him should have at least been substantiated before initiating action.

The former Minister asserted that his two letters to Sonia, one after the Lok Sabha debacle and the other after her private secretary Vincent George was linked to Abhishek Verma, son of Rajya Sabha MP Veena Verma, had probably irked her coterie and forced her hand.