MUMBAI: Senior Congress leader and general secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC), Gurudas Kamat was relieved from all party posts on Wednesday.
“I had requested the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to relieve me of all party posts on February 3, the day when names of party candidates for BMC elections were declared. I requested him again on February 21, the day of polling in Mumbai. I followed up my request with a letter to the Congress president after party’s debacle in BMC polls,” Kamat said in a statement released here on Wednesday.
“I met Rahul Gandhi again last week and requested him to relieve me of all posts,” Kamat added in his statement.
Earlier in the day, the AICC had announced that former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot will look after the affairs of Gujarat, which Kamat had been handling until now. Kamat had also held charge of Rajasthan and was also a CWC member.
One of the trusted lieutenants of Rajiv Gandhi and five times MP, Kamat was sulking after elevation of former party MP Sanjay Nirupam to the post of president of Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) about two years back.
Kamat was unhappy with Nirupam’s style of functioning and had complained about it to the party leadership. However, Nirupam was given a free hand and several of Kamat loyalists were denied tickets during the BMC polls earlier this year. Disgruntled Kamat then kept himself away from party campaign in Mumbai and resigned from all party posts.
“I thank Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi for the opportunity given to me to serve the Party,” Kamat said in his statement.