More resignations pour in, Chandigarh Congress leaders write to Kharge seeking Lucky’s removal after furore over Bansal post

In a press conference, the members asked Lucky to step down and said they sent their resignation letter to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge. In the letter, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, too, they sought Lucky’s removal as Chandigarh Congress president.

The resignation letter to Kharge says, “We all undersigned request you to remove Lucky from this post immediately if the Congress wants to win the seat of Chandigarh. Until then, we all are resigning from all our posts of Chandigarh Congress committee,” the letter said.

Mihir Guleria, chairman of the Chandigarh Congress’s Himachal cell, said, “Yes, I have resigned from my post. We are not against Manish Tewari’s candidature, but we want Congress chief H S Lucky to step down for using such language for our Congress leader Pawan Bansal ji. There are one lakh votes of Himachal residents in Chandigarh.”

Mahila Congress president Deipa Dubey, who presided over the presser, said, “You can get away by just releasing a video and saying someone else handles the account, and you don’t know who posted…you know that a call from Pakistan came to you, but you don’t know whose post it was. Congress chief has broken the party. We want him to step down.” Lucky had applied for security a few days ago in court after he allegedly received a threat call from Pakistan.

Earlier in the day, Lucky released a video urging the party members to resolve their differences behind closed doors.

“If anyone has any issue, we can sort it out closed doors, but let’s not make it public…Let’s not try to spoil the party’s prospects,” Lucky said in his video message in Hindi.

In a three-minute-long video, the Congress chief said he could not find the post on Pawan Bansal that he allegedly shared. However, he said when he cross-checked, he discovered that the university students who manage his Instagram handle had probably liked or shared a post.

The post, purportedly forwarded by Lucky, said, “Pawan Bansal tricked… Manish Tewari announced as Congress candidate from Chandigarh… Congratulations, long live the Congress, long live HS Lucky, Manoj Lubana” It was accompanied by a picture of Tewari, Lucky and the party’s youth wing president Lubana.

In the video, Lucky said he respected Bansal. “He is our seniormost leader, and he has appealed to everyone to get together and work in the election campaign now,” said Lucky.

“Whoever wants the INDIA bloc to win should come forward to work for Manish Tewari’s campaign. Everything can be sorted out once someone sits down. You are our brothers and sisters, office-bearers, and if anyone intends to talk, they are welcome at Congress Bhawan. Let’s just finish this issue now. Our fight is against the BJP and the Modi government. If we sit at home, we will repent the entire life that this was the only opportunity to defeat the BJP,” he added.

Dubey said all those who resigned on Tuesday did so after watching Lucky’s video. She said the leaders who resigned have no issues with Tewari and that they would support his candidature.

There were protests within the Congress party after Manish Tewari was announced as their candidate for the Lok Sabha polls in Chandigarh. Pawan Bansal was also reported to be interested in getting a ticket and was already campaigning and working on the manifesto.

Bansal’s supporters were upset after Lucky expressed his opinion at the party’s poll panel meeting in Delhi. Lucky stated that Chandigarh “required a new face” as Bansal had been fielded in the last eight Lok Sabha elections and had lost the last two polls since 2014.