The nameplate outside the Congress’ Minorities Department office at 24, Akbar Road proclaims A.R. Antulay as its chairman. But the senior party leader has been missing for the last two months and nobody is quite sure when he’ll be back or if he’ll return at all.A closely-guarded secret at the party headquarters, Antulay is reported to have quit in disgust at the shoddy manner in which the Congress has been treating its Minorities Department, completing bypassing its recommendations on all vital issues — whether on the Uttar Pradesh elections or the recently-concluded corporation elections in Delhi.Last evening, Antulay had a 50-minute meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi at the latter’s 10, Janpath residence. The senior leader, who has been silently seeing his authority and clout within the party’s growing crowd of young turks being whittled down over the years, was in no mood to reconcile. So, despite Sonia’s request to stay, it’s quits for him.When contacted today, Antulay told The Indian Express that he had resigned from the Minorities Department, but refused to say why. With 10, Janpath too maintaining silence, there is no official word on his resignation yet. However, sources said Sonia was mulling over a list of possible contenders, but the problem lies in roping in someone ‘‘big enough’’ for the important post.Indirectly confirming Antulay’s resignation, Ambika Soni, AICC general secretary in charge of political affairs, told The Indian Express that since the Minorities Department post was very important, it had to be filled immediately.‘‘Since I’m not privy to one-to-one conversations between Sonia and Antulay, I cannot shed any light on it,’’ said Soni, only stating that she believed the senior leader had tendered his resignation to the party chief.According to party sources, Antulay handed over to Sonia a long list of grievances concerning the Minorities Department. He is reported to have gone to the extent of telling the party chief that the department, instead of fulfilling its function of providing crucial information regarding minorities to the party high command, had been thrown off the cliff.For the Congress, which is gearing up for elections in Gujarat, the development on its minorities front could not have been more ill-timed. The toothless department could send the wrong signals to the very people the party wants to woo, warn Congress observers.‘‘Sure we are ruling 14 states, that makes it all the more important to retain meaningful interactions with the minorities,’’ says a senior Congressman.When asked to comment, Mohammed Afzal, one of the two secretaries in the Minorities Department (the other being H.S. Hanspal), replied cautiously. ‘‘We are doing our best. The department is actively engaged in getting minorities’ feedback and passing it on to senior leaders, at times even to the party president.So far, though, we have not made any policy decision and therefore our work has not really suffered,’’ he said.Meanwhile, at the department’s office, work continued as usual as streams of people walked in with lists of problems dogging the minorities in their respective areas.
