Poster war again hots up in Allahabad

ALLAHABAD: Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vanishing act’ during the ongoing budget session of Parliament has not only put the Congress in an awkward position, but also sparked a poster war in the city once considered a Nehru-Gandhi bastion. While supporters of Priyanka Vadra have put up posters urging her to take over party mantle, an anti-Rahul group of the Congress has announced a cash prize on whosoever finds the party vice-president.
Two young party leaders, Haseeb Ahmad and Shreechand Dubey, who have been in news for putting up controversial banners seeking extended role for Priyanka in the party, have tried to cash in on Rahul skipping Parliament session by putting up posters, “Chutti par jab jaye Rahul Gandhi, Karyawahak uppadhakshya bane Priyanka Gandhi (When Rahul goes on leave, Priyanka must be made officiating vice-president).”
Another local Congressman Amar Vaishya ‘Munna Bhaiyya’ too has come up with a banner announcing a cash prize to whosoever finds Rahul Gandhi. “Congress ke senapati lapata hain. Pata batane wale ko malamaal kiya jayega (Congress commander Rahul is absconding and whosoever locates him will get hefty prize).”
Munna Bhaiyya, who recently switched over to BJP, said, “Congressmen say Rahul Baba has gone for introspection. If this is true then Prayag (Allahabad) would have been a better place. There can be no better place than Anand Bhawan for introspection.” He denied to term his poster as a “poster war” and said “I have merely expressed common man’s worry through the poster.”
Congress national spokesperson Rita Bahuguna Joshi described Ahmad and Dubey as “fringe players inviting disciplinary action”.
Joshi said, “Sonia Gandhi is our undisputed leader and Rahul Gandhi the vice-president. It will be Priyanka’s personal decision to join politics. But the party and nation will welcome her whenever she decides to become active in politics.” She, however, declined to comment on Munna Bhaiyya’s poster saying that “he had switched over to BJP and was trying to malign the party leader”.
Ahmad and Dubey are self-professed Priyanka supporters and have time and again come up with controversial posters advocating her entry into active politics to revive the party. Earlier, they were expelled from the party after they had put up a poster mentioning Sonia’s illness and demanding that party reins be handed over to Priyanka. Their expulsion was later revoked.
The had also hogged limelight in November 2011, when they put up a banner at the posh Civil Lines area on the eve of Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Phulpur. The banner urged Rahul to identify traitors in the party. They followed it up with another banner depicting Sonia Gandhi as Goddess Durga and Subramanyiam Swami as Mahishasur and Arvind Kejriwal as Ravana.