 Sanjay Pandita
Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 12: Factional tensions within the Jammu and Kashmir Congress escalated sharply on Friday after AICC Scheduled Caste (SC) Department Incharge, Teena Choudhary, announced that she would file a formal complaint against the Union Territory Congress leadership for allegedly declaring her department’s official programme “illegal.”
Choudhary expressed strong resentment over a statement issued from the official email ID of the J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC), in which the SC Department’s event was reportedly described as unauthorised.
Terming the move “unwarranted and defamatory,” she said the UT leadership had “no authority” to question an event held under the mandate of the AICC SC Department.
“I will formally write a complaint to Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi regarding this misconduct,” Choudhary told The Early Times, adding that she would escalate the matter to the party high command. “Those who issued the official handout on Thursday will be brought to justice,” she asserted.
She further alleged that certain vested interests within the J&K Congress were attempting to sabotage the functioning of the SC Cell for internal political gains, deepening the existing fissures within the party unit.
The controversy intensified after the JKPCC, in an official communication on Thursday, publicly disowned the Congress SC Department chairperson Karan Bhagat for organising the programme attended by CWC member Vikar Rasool Wani and Teena Choudhary.
In the statement, the JKPCC said it had taken “strong exception” to Bhagat’s “highly objectionable and unauthorized activities,” adding that he stood disowned pending disciplinary action for “gross indiscipline, anti-party activities and levelling false, baseless and malicious allegations against the top leadership.”
The party also claimed that Bhagat’s request for a ticket in the 2024 Assembly elections had been rejected by the AICC due to “serious complaints” about his conduct and reputation.
Expressing dismay over the participation of some leaders in the “unauthorised” event, the JKPCC asserted that the post of SC Department chairman had become vacant following Bhagat’s “open resignation” on social media—one that, according to the party, was accompanied by “motivated and concocted allegations aimed at tarnishing the organization’s image.”
JKPCC working president Raman Bhalla accused Bhagat of misleading party workers into attending the event, alleging that he was “notorious for foul language and undesirable activities.” Bhalla added that the entire matter would be reported to the high command for action against those “encouraging indiscipline.” |
