Congress leader sacked for calling Rahul ‘Pappu’

New Delhi: A senior Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh (UP) has been removed from all party positions for referring to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as “Pappu”, in a social media message that has now gone viral.

‘Pappu’, meaning a clueless boy, is a term often used by leaders of other parties to denounce Gandhi.

On Tuesday, Congress’ Meerut unit chief Vinay Pradhan had forwarded a post to the party’s WhatsApp group to laud Gandhi’s recent attempt to visit Mandsaur, the epicentre of farmer protests in Madhya Pradesh (MP).

“Rahul Gandhi is also known as Pappu among a section of people. Pappu never took part in parties thrown by industrialists like Adani and Ambani because Pappu knew that these people would only exploit the common people’s resources. Pappu could have easily become the Prime Minister of this country but he did not,” the message read.

On Wednesday, chairman of Congress Disciplinary Committee Ramkrishna Dwivedi issued a letter announcing Pradhan’s removal from all party posts.

“This is an attempt to malign the party leadership. Other parties appear to be involved in this. It is also an effort to divert attention from the main issues, like the plight of farmers in Madhya Pradesh. Vinay Pradhan is guilty of violating the constitution of Congress party,” Dwivedi said in the letter.

The action against Pradhan was confirmed by Congress spokesperson Dwijendra Tripathi.

“Vinay Pradhan was relieved from all the posts. This was done due to indiscipline showed by him. Also, he has been served a show-cause notice for using derogatory words for senior party leadership,” he said.

Reacting to the action taken against him by the party, Pradhan said Gandhi was his ideal and he never intended to disrespect him.

“I would never dream of using a derogatory word like that for him. This is a conspiracy against me by some people within the party to malign my image so that they can take over the reins of the district Congress,” Pradhan told media on Wednesday.

He said the message in question was not sent by him.

“I was not given an opportunity to explain myself. The screenshots of the message being circulated have been Photoshopped. The party should have at least heard me out before removing me from all posts. I am seeking an appointment with Rahul Gandhiji and will explain the matter to him,” he added.

Pradhan is scheduled to meet Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) Chief Raj Babbar at his residence along with his supporters on Thursday.