In what can be termed as a revolt of sorts in the UP Congress, nearly 39 office bearers, including eight block presidents, have resigned en masse in protest against the appointment of Vijay Bahadur as president of the Lucknow district unit.
The office bearers have sent their resignation letters to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi, UP in-charge Madhusudan Mistry and UPCC president Nirmal Khatri. Another senior Congress leader Fakir Siddiqui, who had contested the last Assembly elections form Lucknow, also resigned form the party to protest against the manner in which dedicated party workers were being neglected.
The office-bearers said that by appointing Mr Bahadur as president of the Lucknow district unit, the party had ignored the efforts they put into building the party ahead of the crucial general elections.
One of the office bearers, Farhana Maliki, told reporters that Mr Bahadur was not familiar with the functioning of the party’s district unit and the party leadership could have chosen any of the eight blocks of Lucknow constituting the district unit for the post. The Lucknow district unit of the Congress comprises blocks of Chinhat, Mohanlalganj, Sarojini Nagar, Kakori, Bakshi ka Talab, Mall, Malihabad and Gosainganj.
Hashimuddin, block president of Mohanlalganj, said, “We are distressed because the party leaders did not consult us before appointing a new president of the Lucknow district unit.”
Mr Bahadur, meanwhile, said that he was confident that the bitterness prevailing among the office bearers of the Lucknow district unit would soon vanish, paving the way for bonhomie and camaraderie.