Congress loyalists look for sacked editor

Congress loyalists are searching for Mr Sudhir Joshi, the controversially sacked “content editor” of Congress Darshan, the journal of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC), for the publication of articles critical of Jawaharlal Nehru and party chief Sonia Gandhi in its December issue.

Although MRCC president Sanjay Nirupam, who is also the editor of the journal, sacked Mr Sudhir Joshi the other day, the loyalists want Mr Joshi to disclose the names of the authors of the controversial articles. “We don’t know the whereabouts of Joshi or where he stays. But we cannot remain silent on this issue, which has damaged the party and the leadership,” they said.

While Maharashtra Congress leaders feel sacking Mr Joshi cannot be the only punishment as the BJP exploited the whole controversy and ridiculed the party, they want the MRCC to disclose his whereabouts and the names of the writers of these articles.

Asked if it could be the handiwork of Mr Nirupam’s rivals in the MRCC, they shot back: “Do you think they can stoop to such levels, manage publication of articles against Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru ”

The journal was started during the tenure of Mr Kripashankar Singh as MRCC president but was discontinued when Prof. Janardan Chandorkar became MRCC chief. Mr Nirupam revived it, they said.

A section of the Congress wants to close the issue but others feel this would send the wrong signal to the rank and file in Maharashtra, currently ruled by the BJP-Shiv Sena combine. This would be seen as weakness on the part of the party and its leaders, especially on the issue of the top leadership. The guilty must be punished at any cost, they said.