Cong's decision to expel me shows party is in 'wrong hands' in Maharashtra, says ex-MLA Ashish Deshmukh

Former Maharashtra MLA Ashish Deshmukh on May 25 criticised the Congress for expelling him, and said the action showed the party’s state unit was in the hands of wrong people.

Former Maharashtra MLA Ashish Deshmukh on May 25 criticised the Congress for expelling him and said the action showed the party's state unit was in the hands of wrong people.

The State Congress recently expelled Mr. Deshmukh from the party for six years over his public statements against the party leadership. The order of expulsion was issued to Mr. Deshmukh by senior Congress leader and Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Chairperson of the State Congress Disciplinary Committee, through a letter dated May 22.

Also Read :Maharashtra Congress expels former MLA Ashish Deshmukh for anti-party activities

The letter said the committee discussed Mr. Deshmukh's reply submitted on April 9 to a show-cause notice issued to him over his statement that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the Other Backward Class (OBC) community over his "Modi surname" remarks.

Mr. Deshmukh is a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Katol in Nagpur, who later joined the Congress.

In a statement, Mr. Deshmukh said, "The decision to expel me from the party is completely wrong. This action shows that the leadership of the Maharashtra Congress is in the hands of wrong people." "If one statement of Rahulji Gandhi insults the entire OBC community and because of that, members of this community are hurt, then for the sake of Congress party, Rahulji should apologise to the OBCs who form 54 % of India's total population, and end the matter here," he said.