Call for action against Hooda, Chavan for meeting Azad

New Delhi: After former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and ex-Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda met Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress leaders have sought action against the two for going against the party lines as Azad had hit on Gandhis which has not gone down well with the party leaders, mainly the loyalists.

Former president of Congress’ Haryana unit, Kumari Selja has written a letter to state in-charge Vivek Bansal seeking action, while Virendra Vashisht, secretary of Indian Overseas Congress has written to the Disciplinary Committee, sources said.

However, Hooda on Thursday clarified his reason for meeting Azad.

Prithviraj Chavan, Anand Sharma and Bhupinder Singh Hooda had on Tuesday met Azad, who has resigned from the party and is set to hold his first public meeting in Jammu on September 4.

Terming it a “courtesy” call, Hooda said they all met as they have been party colleagues for years and had discussed several issues.

“We had asked him why he quit,” he stated.

The process for the Congress president’s election has come into the spotlight after few leaders questioned the non-availability of electoral rolls in the public domain.

Two Congress leaders, Manish Tewari and Karti Chidambaram, on Wednesday urged the Congress’ Central Election Authority, headed by Madhusudan Mistry, to make the electoral rolls public and available on the Congress website.

However, the CEA said that these rolls will be made available to candidates contesting elections.

Tewari and Karti Chidambaram had raised concerns over the manner in which the party president poll was being held.

In a tweet, Chidambaram had said: “Every election needs a well defined and clear electoral college. The process of forming the electoral college must also be clear, well defined and transparent. An ad hoc electoral college is no electoral college.”

Anandpur Sahib MP Tewari too has raised doubts over the electoral rolls ahead of the party president election, saying these should be made public to ensure a free and fair election process.