Differences within the Congress city unit came to the fore on Wednesday with party MLA Vinayak Nimhan and his son Chandrashekhar Nimhan criticising city unit chief Abhay Chhajed for the grand welcome on Monday to city MP Suresh Kalmadi at the civic headquarters.
In a statement,Nimhan said Kalmadi was suspended by the party after the image of the party took a beating owing to his arrest for alleged irregularities in the Commonwealth Games.
A few party office bearers were still working for Kalmadi and welcomed him during his visit to the PMC headquarters,Nimhan said.
The party has already suffered during the civic polls due to select party office-bearers supporting Kalmadi. I am only airing the voice of party workers who do not approve of this.
City Youth Congress chief Chandrashekhar Nimhan,who is also a Congress corporator,said,We are unable to understand the participation of party office bearers,inlcuding Chhajed,in welcoming Kalmadi,who has been suspended by the party. He condemned the city Congress chiefs advice to his father to understand the principles of Congress. We cannot forget that Chhajed had joined hands with the opposition candidate to defeat Congress city womens wing chief in the civic polls for his interest, Nimhan said.
The city Congress chief could not assess the poor performance of the party in the civic polls. He left the Congress in past and is now trying to hide his inefficiency by making statements against party legislator, he added.