The Congress high command on Thursday could not explain the rationale behind supporting the rival BJP, the Shiv Sena and NCP legislators in the Maharashtra Assembly, who demanded the >suspension of Waris Pathan, a Muslim member of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen Party (AIMIM) , as he refused to say “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” on Wednesday.
Sources said Congress president Sonia Gandhi has initiated an internal inquiry to find out what prompted the Congress MLAs to endorse the motion of the BJP, the NCP and the Shiv Sena legislators, seeking Mr. Pathan’s ouster.
The move has left the senior leadership at an odd spot as it is unsure whether to support the move or to speak against it. The Maharashtra Congress president, Ashok Chavan, distanced himself from the motion, saying since he is not a member of the Assembly, “he has no idea about what transpired there.”
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Mr. Chavan, in fact, criticised the BJP, the NCP and the Sena for “using the slogan as a political tool.”
“No one has a problem with saying ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ but I think it becomes problematic when RSS and BJP impose it on others to score political points,” he said.
Though Mr. Chavan denied receiving any communication from the senior leadership, he said the party would try and understand why its MLAs chose to toe the rival parties’ political line.
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The chairman of the party’s minority cell, Khurshid Ahmed Saiyed, said he would discuss the issue with the senior leadership but, in the same breath, downplayed the incident, giving a vague explanation. “Jai Hind is the most patriotic slogan. The Congress has been saying Jai Hind from 1925; it was the favourite slogan of Subas Chandra Bose but ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ is the slogan of RSS. We don’t like the way they (RSS) are trying to use it against us.”
The worst by Congress MLAs came when BJP leader Eknath Khadse sought an apology from Mr. Pathan to end the matter. They shouted down Mr. Khadse and demanded Mr. Pathan’s suspension. Their cry was backed by the NCP, BJP and Sena leaders.