State YC gen secy Patwa suspended

SURAT, Nov 30: Surat City Congress president Pratap Kantharia has suspended State Youth Congress YC general secretary Sanjay Patwa for ...

SURAT, Nov 30: Surat City Congress president Pratap Kantharia has suspended State Youth Congress YC general secretary Sanjay Patwa for 8220;anti-party8221; activities. The YC general secretary, however, dismissed the decision as 8220;not valid8221; and maintained that he was still the state YC leader.

The City Congress president issued a show-cause notice to Patwa late on Monday night, asking him to 8220;reply8221; within three days.

Reacting strongly to the decision, Patwa said, 8220;The city Congress president cannot suspend me. If he thinks I was indulging in anti-party activities, he could have asked the Youth Congress State president. But he is nobody to issue a show-cause notice8221;, which I have not received8221;.

Kantharia justified his stand, saying 8220; I wanted to suspend him long back. I kept the decision in abeyance because of the elections.8221; He added that 8220;he Patwa had to be suspended as he had crossed all limits.8221;

Kantharia charged that the Youth Congress leader sought cheap publicity, and issued statements against a section of party leaders, going against Congress norms.

Patwa told Express Newsline that 8220;the suspension is not valid. I am still the State Youth Congress general secretary.8221; The YC leader said when he asked Youth Congress president Himatsinh whether 8220;he endorses the action taken by Kantharia, he Himatsinh said he was not aware.8221; Kantharia, however, claimed that the State Youth Congress president had asked him to take action against Patwa.

Incidentally, the Natwarlal Shah committee, set up by the GPCC president to look into the reasons for the Congress debacle in Gujarat, said in its report that the City Congress president had worked against Congress candidate Rupin Patchigar. 8220;In fact, Kantharia should be expelled from the party. Instead, he has issued show-cause notice to Patwa. This is the reward they give to committed party workers,8221; said Mahendra Suratia, Surat City Congress secretary.

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To express solidarity with Patwa, some senior Congress office-bearers held a meeting on Tuesday and condemned the City president. Prominent among those who attended the meet were GPCC secretary Rizwan Usmani, Rupin Patchigar, Mahendra Suratia, former Mayor Chiman Patel, former Deputy Mayor Sabbir Master, Prabhu Das Patel and Umesh Mehta. Surat City Congress secretary Suratia said the meeting decided to ask GPCC president C D Patel to revoke the suspension order. 8220;If our plea is not heeded, we will take three busload of party workers to Delhi to expose the misdeeds of the City Congress president.8221;