Soon after Narendra Modi praised him for raising his voice against dynasty politics, Shehzad Poonawala accused Rahul Gandhi's office of insulting him.
Maharashtra Congress secretary Shehzad Poonawalla, who raised a political storm by dubbing as "rigged" Rahul Gandhi's impending election as party President, today accused the Gandhi scion's office of insulting him.
"Today morning, I called Rahul Gandhi's office to ask him for his time so I could give him the proof that it was a rigged election before he files nomination tomorrow. I thought he has some morality takes the right decision by stopping the process, but his office insulted me," he shared on Twitter.
Till three days ago, I had been receiving communication from Maharashtra Congress office, now they are saying I am not a party member. I had to become a whistle-blower: Shehzad Poonawalla pic.twitter.com/xVwxzTNxQE
&; ANI (@ANI) December 3, 2017
This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised him for raising his voice against dynasty politics. Modi questioned the democratic set up within the grand old party during his election rally at Surendranagar in Gujarat.
PM Modi, who is on a two-day tour of Gujarat as part of BJP's election campaign, also accused the Congress of trying to muzzle Poonawalla's voice after he questioned the process of electing the president of the Congress party.
Gujarat is going to polls in two phases - December 9 and 14.
Rahul Gandhi is expected to take over as Congress president before the end of this year. The Grand Old Party has already announced the schedule of its presidential poll.Thank you @PMOIndia I will continue my fight against dynasty politics - I will not be cowed down by the attempts to silence me https://t.co/WMt5dwuiDi
&; Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) December 3, 2017
The last date of filing nominations is December 4; if nobody apart from Rahul files nominations, the Gandhi scion would effectively become party chief pending a formal announcement.
Poonawalla on November 29 questioned the process to elect Congress party President, calling it "rigged" and said Vice-President Rahul must first resign from his post.
The upcoming Congress president election is a selection and not an election. Its a sham election process: Shehzad Poonawalla,Maharashtra Congress Secretary pic.twitter.com/TdQSXs98Wq
&; ANI (@ANI) November 30, 2017
The Maharashtra Congress secretary said he would also contest the election if it was conducted in a "genuine" manner. He had also written a letter to Rahul in this regard.