Aditya Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray welcome Priyanka Chaturvedi into the party
Highlights
- Priyanka Chaturvedi had tweeted, lumpen goons get preference in Congress
- Congress had reinstated party workers who had misbehaved with her
- She is also reportedly upset over not being given chance to contest
Priyanka Chaturvedi, one of the Congress's most high-profile spokespersons, quit her party of 10 years and joined the Shiv Sena in less than 24 hours. Hours after she tweeted her resignation letter to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, she surfaced alongside Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya Thackeray.
"I gave ten years of my life to a political party at the end of which I felt extremely let down for not standing up on issues which are important for women's rights," said the 39-year-old, who gave the first hint of a rift with her party on Wednesday, when she tweeted about "lumpen goons" getting preference in the Congress over those who had "given their sweat and blood".
She was referring to the Congress's decision to take back a group of party workers who had been sacked after they allegedly manhandled her in September in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, when she was addressing a press conference.
The workers were reportedly taken back with a nod from Jyotiraditya Scindia, who, along with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, is in charge of the party's campaign in UP.
Their return was announced in a letter from the UP Congress's "disciplinary committee", which was tweeted by a journalist and then retweeted by Priyanka Chaturvedi.
"Deeply saddened that lumpen goons get preference in @incindia over those who have given their sweat and blood. Having faced brickbats and abuse across board for the party but yet those who threatened me within the party getting away with not even a rap on their knuckles is unfortunate," she tweeted on Wednesday.
Mr Scindia, clarifying, said his decision to reinstate the workers was based on the fact that they have apologized. "Priyanka was a great spokesperson, wish her all the luck. Whatever transpired, transpired in August last year. People concerned have apologized in written, they texted their apology. My decision was based on the fact that they had apologized, but a rider attached, that there is no place for them in the Congress if they repeat what they did," he said.
Last evening, Priyanka Chaturvedi handed in her resignation letter to Rahul Gandhi. "In the last few weeks, certain things have convinced me that my services are not valued in the organization and that I have reached the end of the road. At the same time I also feel that the more time I spend in the organization will be at the cost of my own self respect and dignity," she wrote.
This morning, "INC spokesperson" was missing from her Twitter bio.
The episode capped her general resentment at not being picked as a Lok Sabha candidate from Mumbai for the ongoing national election.
Reports that she was joining the Shiv Sena were confirmed when she addressed a press conference with Uddhav Thackeray.
"Yes, I had talked about getting a ticket to contest the polls, but not getting one is not the reason I left the party... I want to clarify that that is not the reason for leaving," she said.
"Let me give you an example... If a family member sexually assaults you in the house and you go to your mother and tell her what happened, and in turn get told that let us hush up the matter or there will be a controversy, what should one do? What should one do if your mother tells you to bury the issue?"
One of the Congress's most vocal and known faces, Priyanka Chaturvedi, was viral on social media recently with her parody of a popular TV serial starring actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani, a Union Minister who is the BJP's candidate against Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi. Priyanka Chaturvedi was attacking the minister over discrepancies on her official declarations on her educational background.