From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI: The infighting in the Congress has come to the open with ministers and legislators denouncing party colleagues and in some cases leaders are flagging names of rival candidates against party members.
One of the State Cabinet ministers recently visited the constituency of another senior Congress minister and announced that he would put up his own candidate and asked voters to support the candidate for the 2018 polls.
“This is a fit case for strong action by dropping the erring minister, divesting him of all the party posts and initiate disciplinary action against him,” one local committee demanded in writing.
The Congress’s block committees and district committees have reported the matter to the State leadership, a report said.
In the complaint, they had mentioned that the minister had held several meetings which focused on how to defeat the senior leader.
However, with resentment brewing among grassroots level workers, corrective measures remain elusive.
Lack of co-ordination between the central and the State leaderships in taking disciplinary action is also palpable.
AICC, which is well aware of the developments, is expecting action from the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee, reports said.
The internal bickering is taking place in all the pockets of the State – Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills.
Surprisingly, inner party rivalry is taking place in areas from where the Congress had repeatedly won in past several polls, party sources said. “These activities have damaged the image of the Congress thereby putting a big question mark on the discipline in the party and dampened the spirit of party workers,” a complaint said.
Such open defiance of party discipline in the run-up to the polls has created confusion in the minds of party supporters as a whole, it added.
The block and district-level committees have also urged the party brass to put a stop to such blatant anti-party activities before the Assembly polls.
