NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Priyanka Chaturvedi has quit the Congress and joined the Shiv Sena, a day after she went public with her resentment against the Congress high command for reinstating members who had harassed her during a visit to Mathura a few months ago.
Chaturvedi, a first-generation politician from a middle-class family originally from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, announced her decision at a press conference at Matoshri, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s residence here in Mumbai.

Chaturvedi said she was hurt by the “misbehaviour” of some Congress party office-bearers with her some time back and that she had pointed that out to the “party high-command”. She denied that she had left the Congress because she was denied a Lok Sabha ticket. “I was seeking a ticket, I was hopeful. But I was absolutely sure that if that ticket did not come my way, that would not lead to bitterness. That’s not the reason I left,” she said answering a question.
According to sources, the UP Congress workers had misbehaved with her and heckled her when she was addressing a press conference on the Rafale deal in Mathura. The leaders were reportedly miffed with her over the possibility that she was seeking a ticket from the area.
The Congress had initially removed them but recently, because of the elections and the need for local support, they were taken back, after leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, in charge of the campaign in west UP, gave the move a go ahead. It was said that the men had expressed regret about their behaviour.
Sources said that before her tweet against the Congress, her appeal to the Gandhis also did not work and she feels she was not given the respect she deserved. Some within the party, however, said it’s wrong of Chaturvedi to say she wasn’t given respect.

One of the Congress’s most vocal and known faces, Priyanka Chaturvedi, was viral on social media recently with her parody of a popular TV serial starring actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani, a Union Minister who is the BJP’s candidate against Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi. Priyanka Chaturvedi was attacking the minister over discrepancies on her official declarations on her educational background.
“Deeply saddened that lumpen goons get preference in @incindia over those who have given their sweat and blood. Having faced brickbats and abuse across board for the party yet those who threatened me within the party getting away with not even a rap on their knuckles is unfortunate (sic),” she wrote.
At a press conference with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Chaturvedi said she was hurt and let down by the Congress decision, and refuted reports that denial of a ticket from Mathura was the reason for her exit from the grand old party.

Chaturvedi said the statements made against her were ignored by the party (Congress), despite speaking for 10 years at a “great personal cost” and without joining politics formally. “I was very let down. I thought If I didn’t fight for my self respect, I would fail women. I have joined the Sena after a lot of thinking, and understanding my responsibility towards the cause of women,” she said.
Asked if there was a big “change of heart” involved in her leaving the Congress and joining a political organisation that was diametrically opposite to the Congress ideology, Chaturvedi said no “change of heart” was required.“Every Maharashtrian is associated with Shiv Sena. I have been associated with Shiv Sena since my childhood since I was born into this city and Mumbai has been my janmabhoomi and karmabhoomi. There was no man parivartan (change of heart) required,” she said.

“I gave ten years of my life to a political party at the end of which I felt extremely let down for not standing up on issues which are important for women’s rights,” said the 39-year-old, who gave the first hint of a rift with her party on Wednesday, when she tweeted about “lumpen goons” getting preference in the Congress over those who had “given their sweat and blood”.(With Inputs from Mumbai ).

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