Act against AAP leader Ashutosh: Congress leaders

A section of senior local Congress leaders on Sunday urged Union home minister Rajnath Singh to take strict action against AAP leader Ashutosh for bringing disrepute to the country by comparing the actions of former minister Sandeep Kumar, who was removed from the cabinet after a sex CD scandal, with national icons like Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. These leaders are said to have held a 15-minute meeting with Mr Rajnath without seeking any prior permission from either AICC general secretary, in-charge of Delhi, P.C. Chacko or state unit president Ajay Maken. Asked what action the party was going to take against the leaders, who met the home minister, a senior Congress functionary said that the matter will soon be discussed with the party leadership. “Though the issues these leaders have raised are very important, they should first discuss such matters with the state unit before proceeding further.”

On the other hand, a local leader who too was part of the delegation which met Mr Singh said, that they had done nothing wrong by raising an issue which had created a bad image of the country. “Why should we take permission for lodging our protest against those who were tarnishing the image of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit. Nehru.

In their memorandum to the home minister, the leaders also demanded action against the AAP government for its alleged failure to carry on with the developmental works in the city. Among the local leaders who met Mr Singh were former MP Sandeep Dikshit, former city ministers Yoganand Shastri, Ramakant Goswami, Mangat Ram Singhal and former Delhi Women Congress head Onika Mehrotra. Earlier, the party leadership had taken a strong exception when some leaders had met lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung and had demanded dismissal of the AAP government in Delhi.