New delhi,June 10 :A BOLD editorial in the party’s mouthpiece, bashing the government’s dimwitted decision to prostrate before Baba Ramdev, has led the Congress to conspicuously withdraw the latest edition of Congress Sandesh . Sandesh , which is edited by Anil Shastri — an invitee to the Congress working committee — questioned the wisdom of the government over sending its four cabinet ministers, including the seasoned Pranab Mukherjee, to the Delhi airport to explain the government’s position on black money to the yoga guru.
Sources said when the copies of Sandesh were distributed to AICC office- bearers on Thursday morning, some general secretaries noticed the comments against the government.
Sources said though many leaders agreed that sending the ministers to the airport was uncalled for, it would not be appropriate for the party and the government to speak in different tones. Accordingly, it was decided to withdraw all the copies and reprint the issue.
However, by the time party leaders went into a huddle to discuss the issue the damage was already done, as some copies had reached mediapersons.
An emergency meeting of senior party leaders and Sandesh editorial team was convened on Thursday evening and the journal containing the critique of the government, which was to be distributed to the press on Thursday, was withdrawn. But after a channel flashed the news, another meeting of the leaders handling the party’s mouthpiece was convened to deliberate on remedial measures.
“ Was it necessary to send four senior ministers to the airport?” the editorial asked, as it slammed the civil society for trying to brow beat an elected government.
“ It is the government’s duty to adopt positive attitude towards the demands of the civil society but this should be done in a manner that the dignity of the elected government and its rights are not violated,” the editorial read.
After a gag order was issued by the party, it was only Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh, who went public with his disapproval of the ministers’ airport mission. He had, in particular, objected to the decision to send Pranab.
Shastri, in a tweet on June 4, had criticised the decision to send Pranab, HRD minister Kapil Sibal, parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahay to the airport.
On June 5, he had described the police crackdown at the Ramlila Maidan as “ unfortunate and avoidable”. He, however, maintained that it was the government and not the Congress party which had taken the decision.
“ It is Manmohan Singh govt. Was not a party decision ( sic),” he tweeted.
A party source said that had the Congress chastised him for tweeting against the party line, the embarrassment could have been avoided.
TARMAC MISADVENTURE OF THE GRAND OLD PARTY
An editorial in the Congress mouthpiece Sandesh questioned the government’s wisdom in sending over its four senior ministers to placate yoga guru Baba Ramdev
The editorial said the government stooped too low to consider the demands of the civil society, undermining the dignity of the elected government and violated its rights
Copies of Sandesh , containing the damning editorial, was circulated to AICC office- bearers on Thursday morning. Some general secretaries noticed it and asked the party bearers not to distribute it to the media
However, some copies had already been circulated till that time. Party leaders held meetings with the editorial team and withdrew the edition
Anil Shastri, who edits Sandesh , had tweeted on June 4 against the government’s decision to send senior ministers to the airport. He had also called the Ramlila crackdown “ avoidable”, in another tweet on June 5
The party had issued a gag order against speaking on the issue to prevent embarrassment to the government
Thanks Mail today