Darji declines to lead

SURAT, March 29: South Gujarat Congress veteran Zinabhai Darji has declined to lead the party in the state. AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel co...

SURAT, March 29: South Gujarat Congress veteran Zinabhai Darji has declined to lead the party in the state. AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel conveyed Congress president Sonia Gandhi8217;s message to Darji, urging him take Congress leadership.

However, Darji decline the offer, saying he had announced retirement from active politics last year. When contacted, Darji said he had his innings.

8220;I have completed 60 years in active politics and I have already announced retirement from active politics. Everybody knows I do not change my decision. Moreover, now I8217;m 80. I do not think I have any role to play in the Congress party8221;.

Darji, who propounded KHAM Kshtriya, Harijan, Advasi and Muslim theory, however, assured that he would help revitalise the Congress. Former MLA Usha Patel and city Congress leader Babubhai Patel visited the Congress veteran at his Ashram in Vyara, requesting him to lead the party. Darji, who was a confidant of prime minister Indira Gandhi, said he would attend constructive programmes, specially to win confidence of the minority. He suggested registering new voters in slum areas and recruiting active workers in each polling booth.

One-time chairman of Indira Gandhi8217;s famous 20 points programme, Darji had been instrumental in recapturing power after 1977 rout. The KHAM theory, propounded by him, enabled the Congress to come to power in 1980.

Darji told Express Newsline that though he was still active, his priorities had changed. Currently, he is managing the Gram Seva Samaj, an institution formed by him, which runs 10 schools in Vyara taluka. He is also serving as the president of Gandhi Vidhyapith, besides looking after educational institutions.

He is one of the 40-odd freedom fighters in Gujarat who do not accept 8220;political pension8221; from the government. During the freedom struggle, Darji bombed a chowky in Navsari. 8220;We do not accept pension because we had not joined the freedom struggle for pension.8221; Recounting his 8220;good old days8221;, his association with late Moraji Desai, Darji says he stills spins charkha. 8220;I gives me immense relief when I spin charkha for about 90 minutes every day,8221; he says.