MP poll drubbing: Congress serves notices to 150 leaders for 'anti-party' activities

BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh Congress's disciplinary committee met has issued show-cause notices to nearly 150 local leaders who allegedly indulged in "anti-party" activities during the November 2023 state assembly polls, where the opposition outfit faced severe drubbing, a functionary said. The notices, issued on Friday, are returnable in 10 days and those not giving satisfactory replies will face expulsion from the party, he said.
The state Congress's disciplinary committee met here on Friday. In a press release, the disciplinary committee chief and MPCC treasurer Ashok Singh warned that the party will consider taking action against those who engaged in "anti-party" activities and failed to submit satisfactory reply within the stipulated time.
The Congress move comes more than a month after the assembly poll results were declared and is part of an exercise by the party to set its house in order before the general elections and send out a clear message that internal sabotage and indiscipline won't be tolerated. The Congress's tough stance has mainly stemmed from a plethora of complaints it received from the majority of 164 nominees who lost the polls and blamed "internal sabotage" for their defeat.
"If we don't get satisfactory explanation from those who had been served notices, we are going to expel them," a senior Congress functionary told PTI.
In the meetings of the state Congress's election and political affairs committees, defeated candidates and district officer-bearers held earlier this month, a demand was made for taking strong action against those who worked against the party interest.
At Friday's meeting of the disciplinary committee, its members endorsed the decision to show the door to party rebels who contested the assembly polls. The Congress has expelled a number of rebels who defied leadership and fought against official candidates. The ruling BJP swept the assembly elections by winning 163 seats out of the total 230, reducing the Congress tally to 66.