Who is Acharya Pramod Krishnam? Why did Congress expel ex-Priyanka Gandhi team member?

Acharya Pramod Krishnam, who had recently praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Ayodhya Ram temple consecration ceremony and criticised the Congress for skipping the event, has been expelled for six years by the Mallikarjun Kharge-led party.

According to the Congress, Acharya Pramod Krishnam was expelled on Saturday for "indiscipline" and making repeated statements against the party.

Who is Acharya Pramod Krishnam?

• Acharya Pramod Krishnam had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow on a Congress ticket but lost. He, however, garnered an impressive 1.8 lakh votes.
• In 2014, Acharya Pramod had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from UP's Sambhal.

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• Acharya Pramod was earlier a part of the Congress' Uttar Pradesh advisory council, formed to assist Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in her role as UP in-charge for the party.
• The Indian Express reported that one of the reasons for Acharya Pramod sulking could be the Samajwadi Party's decision to declare candidates for both Sambhal and Lucknow, which he has been eyeing.

Why did Congress expel Acharya Pramod Krishnam?

• While the Congress didn't specifically mention the events for the which he has been expelled, Acharya Pramod was in Lucknow earlier this week to invite chief minister Yogi Adityanath to the foundation laying programme of Kalkidham in Sambhal district of UP on February 19. Recently, he also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will lay the foundation stone there that day.
• “Hon’ble Congress president has approved Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee’s proposal to expel Pramod Krishnam from the party for six years in view of his repeated anti-party statements and complaints of indiscipline,” All India Congress Committee general secretary KC Venugopal said in a press statement.
• While Acharya Pramod maintained that his visits to Modi and defence minister Rajnath Singh were merely to invite them to the Kalki Dham inauguration, Congress workers were reportedly worried because of his statements, praising the prime minister for the construction of the Ram Temple while hitting out the Congress for not accepting the consecration invite.