From rxpgnews.com
Chhattisgarh's Congress MLAs stay away from crucial meeting
By Indo Asian News Service,
Nov 21, 2006 - 9:34:15 PM
Raipur, Nov 21 (IANS) Chhattisgarh's Leader of the Opposition Mahendra Karma's efforts to take on former chief minister Ajit Jogi have come a cropper with only one Congress legislator turning up for a meeting to discuss the party's strategy for the assembly session.
Karma, a veteran Congress leader who took up the issue of Jogi's wife's candidature for the Kota assembly by-poll, was left red in the face Monday evening when only one of the 34 legislators in the state turned up for the crucial meeting.
According to party insiders, the only person to attend the meeting was deputy leader of the opposition Bhupesh Baghel. State Congress president Charan Das Mahant also attended.
'Except for Karma and Baghel, the 32 other party MLAs are supporters of Ajit Jogi and boycotted the meeting just to insult Karma and take revenge for his effort to oppose Renu Jogi's candidature,' said a senior leader.
The Congress on Nov 17 fielded Renu Jogi amid intense lobbying and factionalism by various groups for Kota assembly by poll just hours before filing of nomination papers ended.
'MLAs deliberately stayed away from the meeting just to remind Karma that in Chhattisgarh no Congress leader can dare to go against Jogi,' added another leader.
He said the boycott would intensify the rivalry between the two leaders and the issue would probably be brought to party chief Sonia Gandhi's notice.
'It has never happened that such a large number of party MLAs boycotted a crucial meeting. It's a serious issue and the party high command has to intervene as early as possible to save Congress from further blushes,' said party leader.
According to sources, Mahant talked to some legislators over the phone and most cited personal and family reasons for staying away from the meeting.
The Congress has 34 members in the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 51 legislators.
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