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Journalism of Courage
Furious with infighting amongst Congress workers and party leaders in Amethi and Rae Bareli, Priyanka Gandhi made her displeasure known by abandoning a meeting half-way last evening. She is in Amethi on a three-day tour.
“I will not tolerate bad manners and infighting,” Priyanka said before walking off. She only agreed to come back after more than half the workers had left and a few local leaders apologised.
Priyanka was addressing partymen from the Amethi Assembly constituency when an argument broke out. Congressmen Sanjiv Singh and Dharamveer Singh loudly criticised the party’s decision to field sitting MLA Amita Singh from Amethi, alleging she was involved in anti-Congress activities.
“During panchayat elections last year, Amita, wife of Congress leader Sanjay Singh, fielded her own candidates against official Congress candidates. We lost five panchayat seats that way,” Sanjiv Singh said. He informed The Sunday Express that this infuriated Amita and her supporters, who in turn began to hurl accusations against them.
“Earlier, Amita was with the BJP. But when she joined the Congress, most of our local leaders were marginalised. All the BJP men who were close to her were given prominence,” Sanjiv added. “So when her supporters misbehaved, we retaliated. This annoyed Priyanka.”
When contacted, Congress party zilla panchayat member Rajiv Singh said both sides almost came to blows before Priyanka got up and left for the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital guest house, where she is put up.
Speaking about the episode, Amita Singh said such incidents are not uncommon during elections. “There may be a difference in opinion, but it should not come to the fore. As a member of the Congress, I can only say I will be loyal to the party,” she said.
