Now, both Congress, RSS show solidarity with BJP's former Raj chief Poonia on his removal

 

ARCHANA SHARMA

Jaipur, April 4 (IANS) In a startling coincidence, both Congress as well as RSS veterans are expressed solidarity with BJP's former Rajasthan President Satish Poonia on his removal from the post, terming it a poor decision taken by his party in the election year which will boomerang on it.

Congress leaders accused the BJP of being "two-faced", saying that on one hand, they are accusing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of adopting an "anti-OBC stand", and on the other hand, have removed OBC leader Poonia as state party President. They also claimed that Poonia was doing fair work and was a hard working leader as they questioned that why was he removed.

The BJP has appointed Poonia as the Deputy Leader of Opposition in Assembly, after replacing him with C.P. Joshi, but Congress say this is not enough for Poonia.

A video has surfaced in which Congress MLA Mahendra Chaudhary from Nawan assembly seat in Nagaur district is seen saying that Poonia worked so hard and suffered injuries on his hands and legs, yet the BJP removed him from the post of state President. Questioning the change, he claimed that the BJP has not only done wrong to Poonia, but meted injustice to the farmers living in 70 per cent of the villages.

Making him the Deputy Leader of the Opposition won't help, he said, adding that this act of BJP was wrong.

Chaudhary said that when he became Chief Deputy Whip, there was a different arrangement. He said that the BJP has not given any message by making Poonia the Deputy Leader of Opposition, which "is just no post". He said that there was no allegation against Poonia, yet he was removed, while Poonia did all the work of the party in a better way.

The video is going viral on social media.

Even state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra hit back at BJP leaders for attacking Gandhi for his alleged anti-OBC statements, while terming removal of Poonia as the "anti-OBC stand" of the saffron party.

Dotasra asked with what face does the BJP who removed OBC state President talk about OBCs. "The BJP is teaching us the lesson on OBCs, but has itself removed the OBC state President. There is always respect for OBCs in the Congress. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and I myself belong to OBC category. BJP only works to divert the attention of the public from the real issues by bringing jumlas," he quipped.

State minister Subhash Garg even claimed that the BJP will split after removing Poonia from his post.

Meanwhile, the RSS is also dissatisfied with party's decision and veteran leaders reportedly have expressed their resentment against his removal.

On Friday, there were back to back meetings of RSS veterans including B.L. Santosh, Arun Kumar, among others who expressed their dissatisfaction over the way Poonia was removed.

They said that he should have been given some position before his removal and it could have been conveyed earlier that extension will not be given to him.

Meanwhile, after these meetings, it was decided to announce him as Deputy Leader of Opposition to calm down agitating Jats who form a significant voting bloc in Rajasthan.