No Sonia letter to Pawar on sugar,says Congress

Congress sought to distance itself from a concerted attack by a section of the party on NCP and its chief Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

The Congress on Thursday sought to distance itself from a concerted attack by a section of the party on the NCP and its chief Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. A day after senior Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi publicly criticised Pawar for misrepresenting facts about the availability of sugar,AICC media department chairman Janardan Dwivedi reminded partymen of the high commands instructions against airing personal opinion publicly.

Congressmen have been told that they should not speak through media, said Dwivedi. As for Chaturvedis remarks,he said,The party has nothing to say after the Congress Working Committee resolution on drought. If something has to be said,it will be said officially, he said.

He denied speculation about Congress president Sonia Gandhi writing any letter to Pawar regarding sugar prices. Maharashtra Congress spokesman Kanhaiyalal Gidwani had earlier written separate letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia opposing Pawars purported move to change the sugar policy by increasing levy sugar quota and doing away with the release mechanism for sugar mills.

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Congress sources clarified that before the CWC meeting,Sonia had written a letter to the Prime Minister expressing concern about rise in the prices of essential commodities but she had not written any letter to Pawar.

Meanwhile,Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan called on AICC in charge of the state A K Antony in New Delhi to discuss the winnable seats for the party.