Youth Congress workers staged a sit-in outside the party office in Solapur on Thursday to protest against the non-inclusion of party MLA Praniti Shinde in the State Cabinet.
The MLA, daughter of former Union minister and Congress veteran Sushilkumar Shinde, represents Solapur City Central Assembly constituency.
The party workers held a sit-in protest outside the Congress Bhavan in Solapur. As many as 100 Congress workers, including those from Solapur city unit’s youth wing and the National Student Union of India (NSUI) also tendered their resignations in the last couple of days as a mark of protest, a party functionary said.
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The Youth Congress workers sought the inclusion of Ms. Shinde into the State Cabinet.
“We demand that Pranititai be inducted into the Cabinet as soon as possible. To press for our demand, we staged a sit-in protest today,” Congress corporator and party’s State youth wing secretary Vinod Bhosale said.
Despite the MLA’s capability, she has been denied a ministerial berth, he said.
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“We are not protesting against the Congress, but against some senior leaders in the party, because of whom Pranititai could not become a minister,” Mr. Bhosale said.
Mr. Bhosale said the senior party leadership should explain why she was not inducted into the Cabinet.
Solapur (city) Youth Congress head Ambadas Kargule said the protest held on Thursday was “peaceful”, and warned that effigies of senior leadership would be burnt in future if Ms. Shinde is not given a place in the council of Ministers.
On Tuesday, Solapur district Youth Congress head Nitin Nagne wrote a letter in blood to party president Sonia Gandhi, claiming that Ms. Shinde and her father had worked hard for the party and always remained loyal to the leadership.
The Congress office in Pune was also vandalised on Tuesday by alleged supporters of party MLA Sangram Thopate against his non-inclusion in the ministry.