Congress suspends Indore politicians for hosting man who ‘stole candidates’

The Madhya Pradesh Congress has suspended its Indore district president and another functionary for “indiscipline” after they received Cabinet Minister and BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya at the Congress office in Indore.

In letters to Surjeet Singh Chaddha, the Congress district unit working president, and Sadashiv Yadav, the Indore rural unit chief, the party said it had “welcomed a man who murdered democratic values”. The notices were issued on July 20 and came to light on July 29.

Earlier this month, on July 12, Mr Vijayvargiya visited the Congress office in Indore to seek the opposition party’s cooperation in promoting a plantation drive in the city as part of the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress accused Mr Vijayvargiya of being the “architect” behind the withdrawal of its Lok Sabha candidate Akshay Kanti Bam from Indore ahead of the assembly elections. Mr Bam withdrew his nomination barely 10 days before the May 7 elections and later joined the BJP.

Pictures of Mr Bam with Mr Vijayvargiya and other BJP leaders in a car shortly after the retreat had gone viral.

Since the nomination period had already expired by then, the elections in Indore went ahead without an official candidate from the Congress Party or the INDIA bloc, forcing the opposition group to appeal to the people to vote for NOTA.

Murdered Democracy

“This man is responsible for the murder of democratic values ​​in Mother Ahilya town. He has deprived the voters of Indore of their rights and brought shame to Indore at home and abroad. The incident has also been strongly condemned by the people of Indore. Welcoming this person at Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of Indore District Congress Committee, is indiscipline,” the notice said. They were asked to respond within seven days and suspended for that period.

Speak with The HinduMr Yadav said he had submitted his reply to the MPCC. However, he said he was not aware of the July 12 incident.

“I had no idea that he (Mr Vijayvargiya) would come to our office. I was absent most of the time and only came towards the end,” he said.

Mukesh Nayak, the state Congress’s media chief, said their suspensions would remain in force even if they had responded, as per the decision of the party’s “disciplinary committee”.

“What does it mean to be polite to a person (Mr Vijayvargiya) who poached our candidate two months ago, at a time when we could not even field a replacement candidate? If you want to be polite, you can do that at home, not at the party office,” Mr Nayak said.

Message to the defectors

He said, “It was a message to those who are mingling with the BJP leadership and betraying the Congress party at critical moments.”

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr Chaddha also said that he had submitted his reply and stressed that his family had been associated with the Congress for over 50 years.

“I have always been a loyal soldier of Congress and have followed all the rules,” he said.

Mr. Chaddha said, “Kailash ji called me that day and came to our office within the next 10-15 minutes. He insisted on a personal meeting.”

“How can you turn away a guest, especially someone who holds an important post (Cabinet Minister)? We are committed to the tradition of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’,” he said, adding that he had raised environmental concerns during the discussion with Mr Vijayvargiya.

“I told him that while planting is welcome, there should be no corruption involved,” he said.

Mr Chaddha also said that his party did not attend the event because it had been “hijacked” by the BJP and Union Home Minister Amit Shah was present.