Meerut: Congress party’s Meerut district president Vinay Pradhan was sacked from his post after he referred to the party vice president Rahul Gandhi as ‘Pappu’ in a post that went viral on the Whatsapp group.

Apparently, Pradhan had lauded Rahul Gandhi for avoiding a lavish lifestyle and hailed him as a “people’s leader” in the party’s local WhatsApp group. He however used the term Pappu as Rahul Gandhi is referred to by a few in the society.

In his post Pradhan says, “Rahul Gandhi is also known as Pappu by a section of people in this country. People of this country are witness to the fact that Pappu has never taken to lavish life style. Pappu never took part in the parties thrown by industrialists like Adani and Ambani because Pappu knew that these people would only exploit the common people’s resources. Pappu could have easily become the Prime Minister of this country but he did not.”

After Pradhan’s post went viral, the district party spokesperson Abhimanyu Tyagi wrote to the senior party leaders leading to Pradhan’s removal from all party posts. Ramkrishna Dwivedi, the chairman of the disciplinary committee removed Pradhan after consulting with Babbar.

The sacked leader has however denied sending the message adding that the screenshots being circulated have been photoshopped.

“I respect Rahul Gandhiji and would never use such language for him. The party should have at least heard me out before removing me from all posts. I am seeking an appointment with him and will explain the matter to him,” he said.