 "After Lovely, Barkha Shukla now leaves Congress; blames Maken, Rahul Gandhi")
In yet another blow to the grand old party ahead of the MCD polls, Delhi Women Congress chief Barkha Shukla Singh on Thursday resigned while accusing the party's Delhi unit president Ajay Maken of 'abusing and threatening' women party workers.
Expressing her frustration, she alleged Maken even insulted her and added that her complaints went ignored. She also alleged that the party did not initiate any action against Maken post her complaint.
"Insulting, humiliating the woman whom you have made the party president. When she herself is feeling suffocated, how will she get justice for others? It started with the MCD by-election. He (Ajay Maken) called me and insulted me. I complained about the same to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi. I was expecting that the party would take some action, but no action was taken," Shukla told ANI.
Shukla said that she had been tolerating all this since an year.
Earlier on Tuesday, former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with Delhi Youth Congress president Amit Malik.
According to sources, Lovely was upset over ticket distribution which compelled him to join the BJP.
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Malik held Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi responsible for his allegiance to the BJP, saying the grand old party's rigid process in allocating party seats forced him to quit the party.
Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit also blamed Maken for the mass exodus of the party members.
"Yes, of course. That is the reason (Ajay Maken's way of leadership). What else can be the reason? People worked with me for 15 years when Congress was in power. Did you hear any such news of people leaving the party then?" she said.
She also held Pradesh Congress Committee's (PCC) faulty system responsible for senior leaders' quitting the party.
"The approach which a PCC head should have, of working with everybody, is not there. The primary reason behind people quitting the party is them being ignored, not listened to. So, out of frustration, they are doing so. There is some problem with the prevailing system in the PCC. There is an urgent need to amend it," she said.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Vijendra Gupta hailed Lovely's decision and said the people are now showing their belief in the saffron party.
"The people are showing their belief in the BJP because Congress is a drowning ship. The Congress has to rethink on their strategies and policies," Gupta told ANI.