Tewari under fire for Cong split

The office-bearers picked up from where senior leader and Union minister Vidyacharan Shukla left off. Most of them put the ball in Tewari’s court and suggested that the UPCC chief should form a committee himself to probe the reasons behind the split.

Shukla has squarely blamed the CLP leader for dissidence in the party while talking to reporters at Kannauj. ‘‘It is pointless to blame Chief Minister Mayawati and Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi for giving recognition to the split when our own house is not in order. There is no point in blaming others for the mess. The split in the party could be an offshoot to the race for one up-manship between Tewari and UP Congress Committee chief Arun Kumar Singh Munna,’’ he said.

The UPCC chief, however, tried to steer clear of any controversy when reminded of Shukla’s statement. ‘‘He (Shukla) is a senior leader and I cannot comment on his statement,’’ Munna said.

Members of the breakaway group alleged that they were fed up with the manner in which the party’s national leadership was handling the UP issue .‘‘There was no decision for a long time on whether to support Mulayam Singh Yadav for toppling Mayawati government. Then there was an overnight decision that all Congress legislators would boycott the Legislative Council elections, despite the fact that the UPCC chief had clearly stated that we would back the candidate (Yaswant Singh) propped up by the Opposition. There is an utter confusion in the party,’’ said a rebel leader.

The splinter group, headed by Akhilesh Singh, today kept busy trying to swell its strength but said it has not yet decided to side with the Mayawati government. ‘‘The decision to this effect will be taken by the party’s executive committee which has not been formed so far,’’ Akhilesh Singh said. He claimed that 10 more party MLAs would soon join his Akhil Bhartiya Congress Dal. ‘‘Going by the disappointment among the Congress MLAs, it is clear that more of them will join our party. There should be no surprise if 10 more party legislators, besides some senior office-bearers and also MPs, join us,’’ he said.

Akhilesh Singh called for introspection by senior Congress leaders, including Motilal Vora and Pramod Tewari. ‘‘Continued neglect of the party legislators and autocratic style of functioning have led to bickerings in the party time and again and these leaders should evaluate as to why the party in the state has split several times,’’ he said.

‘‘The ABCD will not go the Loktantrik Congress way. Those who have formed it are serious persons who are aware of their political responsibilities. The party will be run on the ideals of Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar and Subhash Chandra Bose,’’ he said.