CHANDIGARH, India: The Congress (I) dissidents proposed to print a million copies of the text of Mr. Kamalapati Tirpathi’s April 22nd letter to Rajiv Gandhi for public distribution. Mr. S.S. Mahapatra, a former All India Congress (I) Committee General Secretary who was expelled from the party after Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s assassination, talking to newsman said at Delhi that the distribution of the text of the letter would coin with a national convention of Indira’s loyalists proposed to be held in the capital on Aug. 9th. Mr. Mahapatra said that apart from himself three party men against whom disciplinary action was taken. Mr, Parnab Mukerji, A.P. Sharma, and Mr. Parkash Malhotra will definitely participate in the convention. According to Mr. Mahapatra, although, the letter’s author had stated that issue raised in it was no longer valid after its clarification ‘with the party president, the document is public property, therefore, it deserves to be debated openly at National Audience since the issue raised affected all congressmen, Congressmen did not seize to be a ‘congressmen simply because they ‘were expelled from the party. The national convention of Indira was in-effect meant to strengthen the Congress (I), those expelled from the party wanted to assert their rights to be heard by the party leadership. The high command should explain their conduct because the expulsion without issuing of notice was un-democratic. This has become even more important because a resolution adopted at a recent meeting of the working ‘committee states that the value of democratic dissent should not be undermined Mr. Mahapatra added.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 30, 1986
