DAMAN & SILVASSA, May 17: The Congress Party has dissolved its Pradesh Committees in Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, both of which saw a mass exodus before the recent Lok Sabha polls and subsequent routs in both the union territories.Local Congress members in both UTs had deserted the party en masse to support an independent candidate in Daman and a BJP candidate in Silvassa, causing an embarrassing situation to the Congress Party. An AICC member in Silvassa, confirming the party high command decision, told The Indian Express in Silvassa that the high command had dissolved the Congress committees in view of the "anti- party activities" by Congress leaders during the recent Lok Sabha elections which saw the party losing both seats to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
An AICC member, on condition of anonymity, said that he had met party president Sonia Gandhi who subsequently asked him to prepare a report and constitute a new committee. Dr Jivan Prabhakar, who was Congress candidate for Daman & Diu,has welcomed the high command's decision, and made it clear that he would oppose the entry who "had indulged in anti-party activities".
Daman & Diu Pradesh Congress general Secretary and district panchayat president Dahyabhai Patel was first to desert the party on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections; sensing a BJP wave he resigned from the Congress to seek BJP ticket which he was denied.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.