Expelled eight months ago from the party and stripped off its primary membership for brutally assaulting a youth in an upscale restaurant at UB City, Mohammed Nalapad, the son of Shantinagar Congress MLA NA Harris and former General Secretary of Karnataka Youth Congress is back in high decibel political action. Taking on the centre on Wednesday over its Rafael deal and ‘targetted’ IT raids on Congress leaders, Nalapad was the vociferous voice of Youth Congress as he led hundreds of Congress workers at the Minsk Square.
The sudden resurgence of Nalpad within the party, despite being expelled by then KPCC President for a period of six-years, has left the Congress in Karnataka in an embarrassing situation and give enough ammunition for the opposition to pounce on the party’s state leadership. According to sources in the Congress party, Nalpad had reportedly played a crucial role in organizing the protest rally by mobilizing enough volunteers for the protest.
In fact, Nalapad was seen climbing a barricade set up by the police and shouting slogans against the centre and addressing volunteers. Soon after his address, the police took Nalpad and other volunteers into preventive custody. Nalapad reportedly said that he has joined the protest as a citizen of the country like any other Indian.
With photographs and videos of Nalpad leading the protest going viral, several state Congress leaders tried to evade the questions by the media. DH repeatedly tried to reach out to Basanagouda Badarli, President of Karnataka Youth Congress. Neither did Badarli receive any calls nor did he reply to messages. However, KPCC Working President Ishwar Khandre reacted that he would check with the office bearers in the party and interestingly, it is not the first time that Nalapad is seen actively taking part in Congress party activities. Just a few days ago, Nalapad courted controversy when he led the party workers during the Bharat Bandh against fuel prices. But the issue seems to have hit the Karnataka Congress party where it hurts the most especially at a time when it is chalking out plans to counter the saffron surge in the ensuing polls to the Lok Sabha, especially in three parliamentary seats of Bengaluru.
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