No difference between Pawar and Thackarey8217;

MUMBAI, MAY 21: Echoing their higher-ups at the legislative level, Congress corporators in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC h...

MUMBAI, MAY 21: Echoing their higher-ups at the legislative level, Congress corporators in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC have turned hostile towards leader Sharad Pawar, and are now equating him with Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

8220;Now he is a non-Congressman and hence as insignificant as Thackeray to us,8221; said Ravindra Pawar, deputy Congress leader in the BMC. Till date, the party claimed that they needed both Pawar and Gandhi to keep the party going, but following Pawar8217;s expulsion yesterday, leaders will throw their weight behind Sonia Gandhi. Party members who hardly debated on the political upheavals going on in the party headquarters in Delhi could not help but talk about it today.

8220;After all the party is going thorough a crisis and all of us are affected,8221; reasoned a corporator. On their stand for Pawar, they said,8220;We supported Pawar as a Congressman. Now that he is expelled from the party, he hardly matters to us and we will not stand by him. Nobody is interested in Pawar as anindividual,8221; stated Ravindra Pawar.

But even as they have joined the bandwagon of the hundreds of Congress supporters in appealing to Sonia Gandhi, corporators are still confused what impact this will have on the party and the coming elections. 8220;Her resignation will not have a drastic impact on the party,8221; they claim adding that this is not the first time the party is going through such a crisis. Going back to history, they cited the 1969 example when big wigs challenged the then leader Indira Gandhi. The crisis brought about a split in the party but it survived and is still going strong, they claim.

Pawar claimed that Sonia8217;s resignation will definitely affect the party but it will not alter the election scenario. People have started identifying themselves with the Gandhi bahu8217; but she will not be able to alter the future of the Congress, added a Congress corporator who preferred to remain anonymous and not jeopardise his political career.

Most of the corporators were not willing to speak openlyand go on record. After all, the decisions are taken by the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee, they said.