Shaken Cong again cries Priyanka

Ostensibly, Vora was meeting party office-bearers to get an update on their activities and a report on the impact of the recent workers’ meetings addressed by Sonia Gandhi in a few divisions of the state. Another such meeting is scheduled for tomorrow. However, yesterday’s development seems to have changed the agenda.

Appealing for Priyanka, a senior party functionary noted: ‘‘Her one gesture of helping a Dalit in Punnupur village build his house rattled the Chief Minister to the extent that she organised a rally at the place and even renamed Amethi. What she will do when Priyanka will be there in full steam?’’

Officially, however, party leaders kept insisting that there was no split in the Congress and that they were in touch with the seven legislators who had apparently switched sides to the BSP. Vora, who arrived here today afternoon, charged: ‘‘Our legislators were held captives in the Speaker’s chamber for five hours and they, along with their family members, were threatened with dire consequences by government officials. More than three legislators have confided to the party that they were forced to switch sides out of coercion.’’

The Congress has also delivered a letter of protest to the Speaker against his ‘‘unconstitutional and undemocratic decision’’ in giving validity to the split. Vora said the party is drawing up an action plan to deal with the BJP and BSP.

The senior leader also questioned the Speaker’s justification that he was acting on the basis of an apex court verdict. ‘‘In the case which the Speaker quoted, two legislators had left their parental party voluntarily, while in the present context, Akhilesh Singh had already been expelled from the party and even the Speaker had declared him an unattached member.’’