After Bengal, now, Punjab Congress wants a pledge of ‘loyalty’

Along with this declaration, candidates will be required to reveal if they had left the party in the past and, if so, the reasons behind that decision.

The latest declaration, to be signed in the presence of a witness, states: “I take a pledge that if I am not selected for any constituency on behalf of the Congress, I will not contest on any seat against any Congress candidate in this election and will fully support the official Congress candidate.”manifesto is a ‘bunch of stolen ideas’.

Nearly two months after the Congress in West Bengal asked its MLAs to sign “loyalty affidavits”, the party’s Punjab unit is going the same way. It will seek a written undertaking from those hoping for party tickets in the 2017 assembly elections that they will not turn “rebels” if denied the chance to contest.

According to a copy of the “Attested Declaration”, accessed by The Indian Express, the party also wants its winning MLAs to abide by its whips in the assembly. In 2012, many Congress hopefuls had contested against its official candidates after being denied tickets. The written affidavit, this time, is part of an application devised with help from the party’s poll strategist Prashant Kishor.

The affidavit

“The Punjab Congress form for application of candidature for Punjab 2017 assembly polls has been prepared by Punjab Congress with inputs from Prashant Kishor. The overall execution of the form filling, collection and ticket distribution process will be carried out by the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee team,” a spokesperson of Kishor’s team, I-PAC, told The Indian Express.

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It adds: “I will, after election, observe the rules framed by the party organisation in the legislative assembly and all the instructions and whips issued by the competent authority.”

Along with this declaration, candidates will be required to reveal if they had left the party in the past and, if so, the reasons behind that decision. They will also be required to reveal their caste and submit the names and telephone numbers of at least two voters from every booth in the constituency they wish to contest from. The last date for filing the application is August 15.

The Indian Express had reported on May 25, in the wake of the Congress-Left alliance losing the West Bengal polls, that state Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury had made winning MLAs sign an undertaking “swearing unqualified allegiance” to the party led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

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