MP local polls: Congress seeks affidavits pledging loyalty from probable nominees
The municipal elections for 6,507 wards across Madhya Pradesh and 16 mayoral positions will be held on July 6 and 13
Bhopal: The Congress has asked prospective candidates for municipal elections in Madhya Pradesh next month to submit affidavits pledging loyalty to the party even if they are not eventually given tickets. Some of them have filed the affidavits promising they would not leave the party or contest as independents.A Congress leader said a large number of Congress workers were seeking tickets and there are three to five probable candidates for each seat. “…there are chances that a person denied ticket could contest the elections either as an independent or on the ticket of another party. This affects the party’s performance… so the senior leadership has decided to ask for affidavits from all probable candidates.”The municipal elections for 6507 wards and 16 mayoral positions will be held on July 6 and 13. All current mayors in the state belong to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).A probable Congress candidate from Bhopal said it is essential to prove loyalty towards the party given the defections to the BJP. “We have submitted affidavits to instil confidence among party leaders…”The Congress lost power in the state in 2020 after 22 Congress lawmakers quit and later joined the BJP.State Congress chief Kamal Nath cited the demand for tickets and added not everyone will get them. “…we have to save our party, not a person. We had to take such a decision to strengthen the party.”BJP state chief VD Sharma said the move shows that Congress is afraid of losing more people. “After losing 28 MLAs [members of legislative assembly], Congress is nervous and it does not want to lose more leaders… so they have come up with this loyalty proof. This shows that the roots and ideology of the party are not strong enough to keep a candidate in the party.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
She is a senior reporter based at Bhopal. She covers higher education, social issues, youth affairs, woman and child development related issues, sports and business & industries.
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