PM: Cong axed ‘ dalit’ Kesri as chief for Sonia

Cong: Kesri OBC bania, not dalit

Mahasamund ( Chhattisgarh), Nov. 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged on Sunday that Sitaram Kesri, who was from a “dalit and exploited community”, was not allowed to complete his term as Congress president so that Sonia Gandhi could take over the party’s reins. Speaking at a poll rally in Chhattisgarh, Mr Modi said Kesri was ousted unceremoniously, “was locked in a bathroom” and “thrown out on the footpath”. In New Delhi, the Congress said its former president Sitaram Kesri belonged to the Other Backward Classes ( OBC) and was not a dalit. “Kesri was a bania OBC from Bihar and not a dalit. However, when has the PM allowed facts or

truth to stand in the way?” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari tweeted.

He said Kesri was treated with “due respect” by one and all. “As someone involved with his legal matters between 19961998, I can say it on authority,” he said.

Mr Modi said in

Chhattisgarh: “The Congress had said a chaiwala became the Prime Minister by the grace of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. I challenged them ( to show that) when he ( Nehru) had established such a democratic and liberal system, then make someone from outside the Gandhi family the Congress president for at least five years.”

“The country knows that Sitaram Kesri, who was from a dalit and exploited community, was not allowed to complete his five- year term as Congress president and was removed from the post,” Mr Modi said.

“The country knows how he was locked in a bathroom and then thrown out of office and on the footpath to facilitate the entry of Sonia Gandhi as the new party chief,” Mr Modi added.

He then asked: “If the Congress cannot even afford a dalit and exploited leader as its president for two years, then how can they appoint someone, who is not from the Gandhi family, for five years?”

The Prime Minister was addressing a rally here on the last day of campaigning for the second and final phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections.