Another hard blow for the beleaguered Congress party.
By Rajiv Theodore
NEW DELHI: The Congress party, still coming to grips after being unseated from power at the center, faced a major embarrassment on Friday with its veteran loyalist Jayanthi Natarajan quitting the party.
Worse, the former environment minister attacked Vice President Rahul Gandhi for his alleged flip flops and contradictory attitude in dealing with issues. Natarajan, who was with the Congress for more than 30 years, said she had briefed these concerns in a detailed note to Sonia Gandhi in November but is yet to receive a response.
Natarajan alleged that she cannot remain in a party that smacks of ‘’an atmosphere of lies and suffocation’’.
Giving an example of gross inconsistencies, Natarajan said she had received ‘’specific requests’’ from Rahul Gandhi on complaints raised by NGOs on industrial projects which had the potential to cause heavy environmental damage.
The projects concerned were Vedanta and Adani’s mining projects in the tribal belts of Orissa. But, Gandhi very soon in a volte face, while addressing an industry gathering, told them that all their projects would be cleared, putting Natarajan in a very tight spot.
Consequently she also faced the wrath of her cabinet colleagues for taking different stands on an issue leading to her being fired as the environment minister in the previous UPA regime led by Dr. Manmohan Singh. Natarajan has alleged that she was made to resign as environment minister in December 2013 as punishment for refusing clearances to projects that would damage the environment.
She said she followed her party’s line and instructions from Gandhi, and his mother, Sonia, to prioritize preserving the environment. But she said that Gandhi appeared to blame her at a meeting with top industrialists for creating “bottlenecks” in development.
A stung Congress, however, was quick to react attributing the move to a deeper political conspiracy. Congress Spokesperson Manu Singhvi said that she was acting at the behest of “new political masters.