Shilpi quits congress

DAINIK NATION BUREAU

Upset with the party high command, who did not consider her candidature from Gadarpur assembly constituency, the Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Shilpi Arora resigned from congress. She alleged that Chief minister Harish Rawat kept me in dark and did not include her name into the panel, which was sent to party high command, and ultimately she lost the ticket race and announced that now she would challenge CM Rawat from Kichha constituency.

Addressing the media at the Press club, Arora alleged, “Rawat had conspired to prevent me from being allotted the Congress party ticket to contest in the 2012 assembly elections and this time again, he has done the same. I dedicated 12 years to working for the party but now it seems as if the party is under the influence of the chief minister who has conspired to keep me from being fielded as the Congress candidate. I was born in Kichha and will contest from that constituency now to show the ‘winnability’ factor to those against me.” Arora further averred that she has been active in the social sphere for man years now and a social organisation of her’s in the area has 5,000 members. She went on to level further allegations at the chief minister. She said, “The chief minister is contesting from Kichha and Haridwar Rural to deny me the opportunity on the one hand and with the intention of making way for his daughter later on. By contesting the election from Kichha constituency, the  chief minister has also disappointed the 16 established and dedicated party leaders seeking ticket from the constituency. I also have the support of these 16 disappointed ticket hopefuls. I will contest the election as an independent to show my electoral potential,” she said. Arora also alleged that the chief minister was surrounded by dubious elements with the “mafia holding much influence” apparently.

In her resignation letter addressed to the PCC president Kishore Upadhyay, Shilpi mentioned that “it appears as if in the past two years, the Congress party in Uttarakhand has become owned by a particular person which has caused much disappointment to me  and other party workers”. “It appears as if leaders who have worked at the grassroots level are not required in the Congress party here anymore,” adds Arora in her resignation letter to the PCC chief.