Thane Congress leader quits

January 4: The decision of Thane district Congress leader Harivansh Singh to leave his party for the Samajwadi Party has caught the Congressmen unawares.

Singh, who had lost heavily when he contested the last general elections from here, has stunned his supporters in the Congress with his sudden announcement to contest polls from Waranguha, Jaunpore district in Uttar Pradesh. The North Indian faction in the Congress will be the worst hit by this decision.

"We wouldn’t have been surprised if he were to contest polls from UP on a Congress ticket, but his decision to join the SP amounts to nothing," a party worker said. His family claimed they too got wind of Singh’s decision only through the DD news bulletin.