NEW DELHI: Congress is unhappy with the Centre's inability to prevent the auction of Mahatma Gandhi's memorabilia in London last week with a party leader writing to the Prime Minister to vent his resentment over it.
Reflecting the unease in the party over the development, a senior general secretary of the party has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressing resentment over the incident and seeking to know what steps can be taken now to get back the belongings of the Father of the Nation.
Sources in the party said it was a serious matter and if it happened due to any policy issue, there is need to plug the loopholes so that such a thing is not repeated in future.
A party leader felt there was a need to handle the issue with greater sensitivity as the matter was a serious one because people's sentiments are attached with the symbols associated with Gandhi.
The auction had led to lot of controversies in Gujarat, the birthplace of the Mahatma. The state goes to polls late this year.
The collection included a pinch of sand soaked with Gandhi's blood from the spot of his assassination in 1948, eight letters, some handwritten and typed postcards, a pair of spectacles, a piece of flannel with reading glass, a prayer book in Gujarati, and a gramophone record containing speeches delivered by him at prayer meetings.