Professional Documents
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Inside Track:
Treasured Asset
Apprehending that Amethi could be chancy in 2019, the
Congress is contemplating fielding Rahul from two
constituencies.
Rahul Gandhi public meeting at anjar in Kutch, during Gujarat Election. (Express
photo javed raja)
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/inside-track-treasured-asset-rahul-gandhi-congress-party-4975811/ 1/5
12/10/2017 Inside Track: Treasured Asset | The Indian Express
Loyalist To Rogue
There are several theories floating around as to how one-time Gandhi loyalist
Shehzad Poonawalla turned rogue. His brother Tehseen, his sister-in-law Monicka,
who is a cousin of Robert Vadra, and the Maharashtra Congress state unit hastily
disowned Shehzad, whose rebellion was mounted on the day the notification for
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12/10/2017 Inside Track: Treasured Asset | The Indian Express
nominations for Congress president came out. The affluent Poonawalla brothers
gatecrashed into the inner circles of the Congress shortly after the UPA came to
power, through social networking, self-promotion and adopting powerful mentors,
ranging from Suresh Kalmadi and Manish Tewari to Digvijaya Singh and Robert
Vadra. The Pune and Maharashtra party units were hostile to the outsiders, who
wielded clout through their proximity to Delhi. Most in the party suspect that BJP
president Amit Shah might be behind Shehzad, in order to embarrass the Congress
at a time when Rahul is all set to become party president. Some believe that
brother Tehseen, despite protestations, is in the loop as the Poonawallas would like
to have a foot in both camps.
Amethi alternative?
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12/10/2017 Inside Track: Treasured Asset | The Indian Express
Unhappy Thakor
What particularly impressed Rahul Gandhi when he met OBC leader Alpesh
Thakor was the fact that the Thakor Sena, of which he was the convener, had
70,000 members and an organisational infrastructure in at least 80 of Gujarat’s 182
Assembly constituencies. Whether the Sena would work for the Congress is a
different matter. While Congress leaders view the Sena as an OBC vote catcher,
actually Thakor’s prime objective was to campaign against the faulty manner in
which prohibition is implemented in the state. Ironically, in one of Thakor’s first
public meetings after joining the party, a Congress leader on the dais joked with
the audience that people should take the liquor offered by the BJP as an incentive,
but vote for the Congress. Thakor was furious. To add to his unhappiness, he finds
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/inside-track-treasured-asset-rahul-gandhi-congress-party-4975811/ 4/5
12/10/2017 Inside Track: Treasured Asset | The Indian Express
that local Congresspersons are trying to undercut him, treating him as an outsider.
The BJP has fielded a rebel Congressman against him.
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