AICC to decide on complaint against Chauhan: Delhi Cong

THE DELHI Pradesh Congress Committee’s (DPCC) disciplinary panel on Tuesday conducted a meeting and left it to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) to take a decision on complaints against Rajkumar Chauhan, party leader and former member of the Delhi Assembly.

Chauhan is under fire for mobilising a section of Delhi Congress workers on Monday after DPCC officially introduced its three Lok Sabha candidates from the Capital — Jai Prakash Agarwal from Chandni Chowk, Kanhaiya Kumar from Northeast Delhi, and Udit Raj from Northwest Delhi. The protesters, challenging the candidature of Raj (a former BJP MP), had raised slogans of “Bahari ummeedwar nahi chalega (an outsider candidate will not be allowed)”, criticising him for his affiliation with the BJP till 2019. They had even tried to barge into the party's conference room where the three Lok Sabha candidates were addressing developmental plans for their respective constituencies, if they win the elections. The conference room’s doors had to be locked to stop the protesters from entering.

Former Delhi minister Dr Narendra Nath, who headed the party’s Tuesday meeting, said: “Rajkumar Chauhan is a former minister as well as a member of AICC. He is senior Congress leader, and because of his stature, it falls outside the jurisdiction of the Delhi Congress to take any disciplinary action against him... It was unanimously decided that the AICC shall decide on the complaint against Rajkumar Chauhan,”

Reacting to this, Raj told The

Indian Express that action needs to be taken against Chauhan, accusing him of breaching “multiple” party orders. “During the general body meeting for the elections, the general secretary had asked everyone to leave their cellphones outside, but Chauhan, nonetheless, carried his phone, took photos and leaked them to the media. That was a major breach of protocol… He mobilised people to disrupt an important press conference by the party to shout at the three candidates... it was very embarrassing,” said Raj.

Despite several attempts, Chauhan did not give a comment on the matter.

Praveen Khanna Congress workers protest against the party’s candidate selection, in Delhi on Monday.