Congress left red-faced on foundation day

A periodical published by India's main opposition Congress has criticised India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru over his foreign policy moves.

The unsigned piece in Congress Darshan said Nehru faltered in his initiatives in Kashmir, China and Tibet. Nehru was a leader of the Congress party and its current vice-president Rahul Gandhi is his great grandson, reports BBC.

Articles in the December issue left the party squirming over the controversy on its foundation day yesterday.

The editor of the periodical, Sanjay Nirupam, apologised for the article and said he would investigate the matter. Nirupam, a senior party leader, told the Indian Express that he was "not involved in the day-to-day functioning of the magazine and was unaware of the article".

"I do not agree with the article. It seems to have been sourced, but I don't know who the writer is," he said. Nirupam said "action will be taken against people in the editorial team who are responsible for the mistake".

Editorial board member and party leader Bhushan Patil later informed that the journal's editor Sudhir Joshi had been sacked. Nirupam, a former journalist himself, also said that he had plans to revamp the editorial board and would personally monitor the editorial content published in Congress Darshan.