AICC keeps distance from its ‘defunct’ mouthpiece

An embarrassed AICC on Monday distanced itself from its “defunct” mouthpiece in Mumbai as some articles in it criticised Jawaharlal Nehru’s Kashmir policy and alleged that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s father was a “fascist soldier”.

“We have nothing to do with this publication. It was a defunct magazine that was trying to revive. That is not our mouthpiece. We have nothing to do with this publication. This magazine has not been associated with the Congress,” said party spokesperson Tom Vadakkan while taking to reporters here.

He also distanced the party from Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) chief Sanjay Nirupam’s act of sacking the magazine editor. The Hindi journal Congress Darshan is published by the MRCC.

“What he does in his personal capacity is his responsibility. In his personal capacity, he can be editor of any magazine and decide to keep or sack any employee. The party has nothing to do with it,” Mr Vadakkan said.

Mr Nirupam, a former Shiv Sena MP, has been a controversial leader in the parent party and later in the Congress as well. Although the AICC is trying to shield him from the blunder, sources said it will be difficult for him to run the organisation for long, especially in the coming BMC polls.

The Congress high command made him MRCC chief, a post earlier held by veterans like S.K. Patil and Rajni Patel, within a few years of joining the Congress.

AICC managers do not want to comment on how the journalist-turned-politician, who started his career with the Hindi journal Panchajanya, virtually regarded as the RSS mouthpiece, did not feel it was necessary to go through the contents of write-ups in Congress Darshan before printing.

Mr Nirupam is seen to be close to PCC chief Ashok Chavan who told PTI that Mr Nirupam has tendered an apology and it was for the MRCC to decide if a probe should be ordered into the faux pas or not.