Discontent in Congress like smoke, but fire somewhere in: Poonia

Jaipur, May 27 (IANS) After Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot downplayed the resignation offered by his Sports Minister Ashok Chandana, BJP state unit chief Satish Poonia on Friday said that it is a contradiction that the CM has deputed such a Sports Minister who is under pressure for organising sports event.

"This is hilarious and misfortune for the state government," Poonia commented.

Chandna offered his resignation on Thursday and urged the CM to handover all his charges to Kuldeep Ranka who is the PS to CM.

"Honourable Chief Minister, I have a personal request to you. Free me from this cruel ministerial post and give the charge of all my departments to Kuldeep Ranka ji, because anyway, he is the minister of all the departments. Thank you," he said.

However, the CM said that the minister might have resigned under pressure as he is organising rural sports olympics.

"Whenever a Minister takes oath, he always promises to serve all his obligations with honesty, so how come this 'cruel ministerial post' comes into discussion," Poonia questioned while talking to the media.

Next, Poonia hit hard on the CM and said that he has a habit of trusting his bureaucracy and has less trust in his leaders.

"This internal protest is often seen in this Congress government. However, this tweet by the Sports Minister of the Congress government, is an example of internal politics in the Congress. In fact, many Congress MLAs have expressed their anguish in the last three and a half years," he commented.

Reviving the political camping in Rajasthan due to rebellion earlier, Poonia said that, due to infighting within the Congress government, the Congress MLAs had to remain locked in the enclosure for 42 days. "The former PCC chief and ex-deputy CM had to be sacked. After that it seemed that everything would be fine in Congress. However, there is a long list of unresolved issues inside the Congress; sometimes MLA Bharat Singh writes letters, sometimes Ramlal Meena, Ganesh Ghoghra, and sometimes Bidhuri's statement comes. The smell of discontent within the Congress is like smoke, but there is fire somewhere inside," he added.

Mocking the Chintan Shivir, he said that it was a sham and did not benefit the party.

"It was decided to give leadership to Rahul Gandhi, which I am eagerly waiting for. The sooner Rahul is given the leadership of the Congress, the more entertainment the country will get. That is why the established leaders of the Congress have started leaving the party."

"Congress became irrelevant in the politics of the country. Congress has no issues, leadership and direction left. That is why when a party stands at a crossroads, the confidence of the leaders is low. As a result, there is constant rhetoric, dissatisfaction growing inside the Congress," he said.