CHANDIGARH: Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath who was appointed party general secretary in-charge of Punjab only three days back on Wednesday requested party president Sonia Gandhi to relieve him from his responsibilities in the poll-bound State. His resignation has been accepted.
In his letter to Sonia Gandhi he stated, “I request that I may be relieved of my charge (of Punjab) to ensure that the attention is not diverted from the real issues facing Punjab. I am hurt by the developments of the past few days where unnecessary controversy has been created around the tragic 1984 riots in New Delhi. Till 2005, not a single public statement, complaint or FIR was ever made against me and the first time my name was mentioned in any forum was 21 years after 1984. The Nanavati Commission set-up by the NDA government after investigation fully absolved me.’’
“This canard is therefore nothing but a cheap political ploy to gain traction ahead of the elections.... Certain elements are raking up these issues now only for political gains,” he wrote to Sonia.
Expressing gratitude to Sonia for appointing him as general secretary in-charge of Punjab, the Congress leader wrote, “I am practitioner of Nehruvian politics and maligning of the Congress party using false accusations is unacceptable to me.”
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh said the charges were made with elections in mind, producing photographs of Nath with AAP leader Kumar Vishwas and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
He said the Congress had twice swept Assembly elections in Delhi when Nath was in-charge. “When Delhi Sikhs didn’t object, why are political parties objecting here?” he enquired.