Furqan Ansari ignores JPCC notice, says he hasn’t received any

RANCHI: Congress veteran and former MP Furkan Ansari avoided replying to the showcause served by the party’s state unit over his remarks on former AICC president Rahul Gandhi and other central leaders till the end of the deadline on Thursday. He said he didn’t receive any letter demanding an explanation.
Speaking to reporters in Bokaro last week after Congress’s debacle in the Bihar assembly polls, Ansari (71) had advised Rahul to change his advisors and called them novice in the field of politics.He also snubbed other central leaders and accused them of keeping the top brass in the dark, leading to the party’s downfall. Taking cognizance of his statements, state party’s co-working president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh last Thursday sent him a showcause asking for a reply within seven days.
“So far, I have not received any reply. I don’t know if it was sent to our state party president (Rameshwar Oraon),” Kamlesh said.
Speaking to TOI over phone, Furkan said that he never received any showcause letter. “What do I reply and to whom? I haven’t got any showcause letter,” he said, adding, that whatever he had said wasn’t wrong and was in good intention being a Congressman.
Furkan added that he first became a lawmaker in the 1980s when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was at the helm. “I have worked with Indiraji and since then have been with this party as a committed party worker. For anyone who has served the party for so long, it is natural to feel bad to see the present condition of Congress, which is on a steady downfall. It is high time the party regains its strength and composure nationally once again. The need of the hour is to strengthen the party units at the state, district and block levels,” he said.
“How can you expect a strong building if the foundation is weak?,” he remarked adding, that for the last four years, the state party unit doesn’t have a working committee. “Working committee is an integral part of any party for its democratic functioning, but in Jharkhand, those at the helm are busy running the party like they wish. Any dedicated Congressman will feel bad if things aren’t right. My statements are an expression of the pain and wasn’t intended to hurt anyone’s sentiments,” he said.