Digvijay accused of violating rules for selecting candidates

Malaviya of hijacking the selection process 8220;in violation of norms8217;, Nath and Singh have asked their representatives Local Self Government Minister Sajjan Singh Verma and Sajid Ali respectively to stop attending the election committee meeting.

There are indications that other senior leaders like V.C. Shukla and Seva Dal chief Suresh Pachauri were also unhappy with the way the Digvijay camp is ignoring the claims of genuine party workers due to factional considerations.

The gravityof the situation can be gauged from the fact that two women ticket aspirants tried to commit self-immolation outside the MPCC headquarters and the fire brigade had to be called. Ultimately, the meeting venue had to be shifted to the Chief Minister8217;s residence.

This makes coming civic elections a major test for Digvijay already under attack from a section of senior MP Congressmen for the party8217;s poor show in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

This is for the first time elections of 18 mayors and 97 chairpersons of municipal committees would be held directly and contested on party symbols. The Congress already faced an uphill task in these elections since the BJP is supposed to be strong in big cities and metropolitan towns. Dissensions within can hardly improve its chances.

Should the Congress get a drubbing at the hustings, the Chief Minister will be left with no excuse to offer.