Chhattisgarh Tapes: Will go to Delhi, says Ajit Jogi camp

At the Jogi residence, supporters including MLAs, took to the microphone and announced a plan to display their support in front of party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

Sitapur MLA Amarjeet Singh Bhagat said, “Every time I think that in the next election the Congress will win, a conspiracy like this is hatched, which hurts our prospects. The decision to expel is against natural justice, as the tapes have neither been authenticated nor investigated. The number of people we see at this gathering is because the Congress worker in Chhattisgarh is hurt. We will go to Delhi in large numbers, and tell the leadership there that this decision has been taken against the will of the people.”

Other MLAs present included Siyaram Kaushik, R K Rai, Chunnilal Sahu and Dilip Lahariya, each pledging their loyalty to the Jogi family.

While Ajit and Amit Jogi themselves did not address the gathering, speaker upon speaker, in a crowd of at least 500 people, said the decision to expel Amit Jogi was taken by “a small set of people, who have been working against the family”.

Former MLA Gulab Singh Kamro told a charged audience, “Over the past few years, in every committee, the lower castes and the marginalised have been removed. I come from Koriya, and even in Korba there is very little backward representation. If there is anyone who works for the lower classes, it is Amit Jogi, and these others who have taken this decision are afraid of them.”