State Congress president Manikrao Thakre, who raked up an embarrassing controversy over the funding of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s rally at Sevagram in Wardha, heaved a sigh of relief on Friday when Mrs Gandhi thanked him for making the rally a big success.
On Thursday, Mr Thakre along with former minister and senior party leader Satish Chaturvedi were accidentally caught on camera saying that the Maharashtra chief minister donated `2 crores for UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s rally at Wardha. Mr Thakre had also referred to the CM’s miserliness and his reluctance to part with the money.
However, on Friday, a visibly tense Mr Thakre eventually broke into a smile when Mrs Gandhi thanked every Congressman for making the rally successful. “I thank every leader of the Congress and the party workers, who worked hard to make this rally a huge success under the leadership of Mr Thakre and Mr Chavan,” Mrs Gandhi said.
In reference to the controversy, Mrs Gandhi said, “It is a delicate time, but we have to ensure that we respect our ideals and traditions all the time.”
She appealed to Congress workers to take government schemes to common man. “The government has provided various schemes for the benefit of the poor and weaker sections of the society, including loan waiver for farmers... Similarly, the Right To Education law has provided free primary education to all. We are soon going to introduce the Food Security Act, which will ensure food for every person. But only making a law is not enough. The Congress has to take responsibility to see that the law is being implemented at the ground level,” she said.
Mr Chavan also suggested that the controversy was the deliberate effort of certain leaders to stall the rally. “There was confusion regarding whether this rally would take place, but Mrs Gandhi ensured that the rally took place as she wanted to meet the common people,” he said. Mr Thakre also thanked the gathering and said that he attempted to provide a direction to the party through this rally.