Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections: Madhya Pradesh Congress Vice President Damodar Singh Yadav and his supporters on Saturday held a protest outside the state Congress office in Bhopal by burning the effigies of former CM Digvijaya Singh and his son Jaivardhan Singh for not getting sufficient tickets for candidates of OBC (Other Backward Class) category for upcoming MP assembly polls.
'Working to tarnish image of Rahul Gandhi'
Yadav levelled accusations against the father-son duo, stating that they were impeding the party's ability to represent the interests of economically disadvantaged and socially backward communities. He also claimed that their actions were aimed at tarnishing the image of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
"The Father-son duo are working to set fire to the Congress and not letting the Congress remain a party of poor and backward people. They are working to tarnish the image of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. When Rahul Gandhi claims that the rights will be given according to the population, then these two are not allowing it to be given. That's why I said, when they are setting fire to Congress, let's set fire to their effigies," Yadav said.
Yadav had earlier requested 126 tickets for candidates from the backward class in Madhya Pradesh but claimed that the party allocated only 55 tickets. "Being the state president of the backward class, I demanded 126 tickets for the backward class in Madhya Pradesh, but they (the party) gave only 55 tickets. There is a relative of Digvijaya Singh who is the chairman of the screening committee. When these people rule, how will the backward people get their rights? Those whose population is not even five lakh in the state were given 35 tickets. While the population of backward class people is around 3.5 crore in the state, they are being given only 55 tickets," he added.
The Congress leader later resigned from the party on Saturday and also claimed to field its candidates from 15 seats in the forthcoming assembly polls. He did not say whether he would form a new political party or join an existing one.
Shivraj Chouhan takes 'ticket franchise' jibe
Meanwhile, Chief Minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan slammed Congress stalwarts of furthering the political careers of their sons through ticket distribution. In the midst of reports of dissatisfaction within the Congress party regarding the allocation of tickets for the elections, he said that it appeared as though Kamal Nath had been given sole authority to distribute Congress tickets.
"Congress has made this election about the future of Nakul Nath (Congress MP and son of former CM Kamal Nath) and Jaivardhan Singh (Congress MLA and son of Digvijaya Singh). It seems that in MP, Mallikarjun Kharge has given the franchise to distribute Congress tickets to Kamal Nath. After taking the franchise, Kamal Nath is not listening to anybody, he is establishing Nakul Nath and on the other side Digvijaya Singh is establishing Jaivardhan," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections
The election to the 230-member assembly in Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to be held on November 17, while the counting of votes will take place on December 3.
In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress had won 114 seats, while the BJP got 109. However, the Congress government fell after many MLAs under the leadership of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who later became a Union minister, joined the BJP. The BJP returned to power in March 2020 with Shivraj Singh Chouhan as chief minister for a fresh term. The BJP's current strength in the assembly is 127.
(With ANI inputs)
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