Bhopal, Nov 6 The suspension of 60 Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress leaders for failing to attend a rally led by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi has sparked discontent within the party’s state unit, with several leaders calling the decision unilateral and undemocratic.
Affected leaders claimed they missed the November 1 event at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi due to genuine personal emergencies, such as family illnesses and funerary rites, and alleged that the disciplinary action handed the BJP easy ammunition to mock them in their constituencies.
The Youth Congress suspended 60 office-bearers, including five vice-presidents, 14 general secretaries, 32 secretaries and nine district presidents from Madhya Pradesh with immediate effect on November 3.
The suspension order described the leaders’ absence from the rally as “organisational indiscipline” and stated that the action would remain in force until further notice.
The leaders claimed that they were not even served show-cause notices before the action was taken.
The Congress held a rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on November 1 to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Talking to PTI, suspended Youth Congress secretary Divyanshu Mishra, alias Anshu, said he was unable to attend the rally because a family member had taken seriously ill.
“I had duly informed the party leadership about it. I am a Congressman and will die as a Congressman, come what may,” he said, recalling that he had travelled to Kashmir to participate in Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Saurabh Sharma, the Youth Congress’s Maihar district president, said he missed the rally because of a function organised to mark his nephew’s birth.
“The Congress has given me countless things. I had informed the state leadership before the event,” he said.
Youth Congress general secretary Rohit Rajouriya said he could not attend the rally because of the 13th-day ceremony following the death of his uncle, who passed away on October 17.
“I had informed the party leaders about my uncle’s death,” he said.
Rajouriya pointed out that he had attended the INDIA bloc’s march in New Delhi on October 12, led by Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Several other suspended leaders, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the action as unprecedented and undemocratic, noting that the party constitution provided for a show-cause notice before any suspension.
They also claimed that BJP workers and supporters were circulating memes and cartoons about them on social media, turning the disciplinary action into a source of embarrassment in their constituencies.
“The action has brought us shame in our areas and has come as a godsend for the BJP,” some of them said.
(PTI News)
