Maha Cong in wrong hands, turned miserable: Ashish Deshmukh

Nagpur: Former state general secretary of Congress Ashish Deshmukh, who was expelled from the party four days ago, unleashed a vitriolic attack on Thursday stating that the “party’s Maharashtra unit was in the wrong hands and has turned miserable”.
He remained firm on demanding an apology from former MP Rahul Gandhi for “unceremonious remarks against the OBCs which constitute 54% of the Indian population”. Deshmukh also said the party would suffer in the forthcoming polls if the apology is not tendered.
“The decision to expel me is totally wrong. I had sent a detailed reply to the MPCC notice, which was widely published in the media across the country as it contained truth. I firmly believe that the decision to expel me from the party was taken before issuing me a show-cause notice for what they perceived as anti-party activities,” Deshmukh said.
Ruling out filing an appeal with the Congress high command against his expulsion, the former Katol MLA said that even the leaders in Delhi were misled by those in the state party unit.
According to him, Congress ruled the country for more than six decades with support of the OBC community, “but now has scant regard for the community”. “The leaders are forgetting a historical fact. The then PM VP Singh’s attempt to implement the Mandal Commission recommendations was opposed by his predecessor Rajiv Gandhi in 1990. Since then, Congress’s OBC base has declined rapidly. And Rahul Gandhi, being one of the party’s top decision-makers, can undo that mistake by tendering an apology and regain some lost ground,” he said.
“I felt that Congress should re-establish relations with its core base. A break-up with the OBC community eclipsed the might of the Congress. Since then, the situation has changed to such an extent that the party has faced decimation from even regional parties,” he said.