Gurudas Kamat urges Sonia Gandhi to relieve him of all party responsibilities

Mumbai: Senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat on Thursday said he has requested party president Sonia Gandhi to relieve him of the responsibilities of Rajasthan.

In a letter to Gandhi today, Kamat said he was grateful to her for relieving him of the charge of Gujarat.

"Am truly grateful but suprised that the AICC spokesman yesterday announced that I continue to be the general secretary in charge of Rajasthan," he said.

"I had written to you 'my heart is not in the job any more.' Please relieve me from Rajasthan and other positions also," he said in a release here quoting the letter.

Yesterday, Congress appointed former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot as its general secretary in-charge for Gujarat in place of Kamat, who had welcomed the decision.

The Congress high command revamped the entire team in Gujarat by replacing the general secretary in-charge and appointed four new secretaries.

The veteran Congressman has had internal problems within the party in Maharashtra after its debacle in the state civic polls.

He, however, refuted reports that he was planning to join the BJP.

"I will continue to serve the people of Mumbai and Maharashtra. I will raise issues which impact them," he said.

Rajasthan goes to polls next year and hence the party should make new appointments at the earliest, he added.

Kamat, in a series of tweets yesterday, had made it clear that he had already asked Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to relieve him on February 3, the day the Congress list of candidates (for Mumbai civic polls) was declared in Mumbai, and again on February 21, the day of polling.

Prior to the BMC polls, the former president of Mumbai Congress, had repeatedly expressed his grouse against the "working style" of city unit chief Sanjay Nirupam over distribution of party tickets.

Kamat had accused Nirupam of "driving out" second generation leaders of the Congress and blamed his "negative attitude" for exit of former MLA Krishna Hegde and some corporators who have joined the BJP. Kamat had withdrawn himself from campaigning for the party.

Nirupam, however, had denied the charges.