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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Congress top brass to decide on action against Dwivedi over pro-Modi comments
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Congress top brass to decide on action against Dwivedi over pro-Modi comments

The Congress party tried to douse yet another controversy, saying its top leadership would decide on disciplinary action against Janardan Dwivedi

Speaking to the media within an hour of Ajay Maken’s briefing, Dwivedi said that it was “stupid” of anyone to say that he could make such statements about Modi. Photo: Hindustan TimesPremium
Speaking to the media within an hour of Ajay Maken’s briefing, Dwivedi said that it was “stupid” of anyone to say that he could make such statements about Modi. Photo: Hindustan Times

New Delhi: The Congress party on Thursday tried to douse yet another controversy, saying its top leadership would decide on disciplinary action against party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi for remarks Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been able to convince people that they represent Indianness.

“The statement that was given and the meaning that emerges out of it is that Modi’s win is a victory of Indianness. The portrayal that comes out is that Modi is comparable to Indianness. The Congress party strongly condemns these statements," Ajay Maken, general secretary in-charge of communications, told reporters on Thursday morning.

Maken also said that the top leadership would soon take a decision on Dwivedi, who had preceded Maken as the general secretary in-charge of media.

Dwivedi is a member of the party’s top decision making body. Congress Working Committee (CWC) and is considered close to party president Sonia Gandhi. He currently holds some of the most important portfolios as general secretary in charge of CWC, organizational elections and all the departments of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

In an interview to Rediff published on Wednesday, Dwivedi was cited as saying: “Modi and the BJP have been successful in convincing people that from a social point of view, he is closer to Indian citizens…In essence, without spelling out further, in a way this is a victory of Indianness." The interview ran with a rider that certain phrases spoken by Dwivedi in Hindi were modified.

The Congress party’s strong reaction to his statements prompted Dwivedi to issue a clarification. Speaking to the media within an hour of Maken’s briefing, Dwivedi said that it was “stupid" of anyone to say that he could make such statements about Modi.

“A useless controversy has been going on since yesterday (Wednesday). There was a conversation (with a journalist) over why congress was left behind. Among other things, I said that Modi and the BJP were successful in telling that people that they are closer to the people and that they represent Indianness. We could not do it and that was our defeat," Dwivedi told reporters. “Who said that Modi is a symbol of Indianness? These are not my words."

This is not the first time that Dwivedi has run into controversy over statements made by him. In February last year, when Congress was at power in the centre, Dwivedi called for an end to reservation on caste lines and suggested instead the introduction of quotas for financially weaker sections, bringing all communities under its ambit. Gandhi had to issue an official clarification on the issue saying that reservations for disadvantaged groups should continue in India to compensate for “centuries of subjugation and oppression."

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Published: 22 Jan 2015, 05:19 PM IST
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