The infighting among Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Kanker over election expenses has taken an ugly turn with some party leaders directly complaining about it to the party’s national leadership. Sources said some leaders had brought this matter to the notice of BJP national joint general secretary ( Organistion ) Saudan Singh. Instead of listening to their grievances, Singh allegedly scolded them.
Reliable sources said Singh had called a meeting at Gunderdehi village on Saturday to discuss on the campaign strategy for Kanker lok Sabha constituency. The meeting was attended by several local leaders including poll manager for the seat Hemchand Yadav, Prem Prakash Pandey and Kamlesh Thokne.
The presidents and general secretaries of all the four districts were also summoned to this meeting. Sources said the office-bearers allegedly said the campaign was affected due to lack of sufficient funds.
Sources said only Rs 4.55 has been given to each assembly constituency area. Some office-bearers said they have already spent huge money from their own pockets.However, the poll managers are not ready to assure that the money will be refunded to them. Singh allegedly scolded the office-bearers and urged them to discuss only on campaign.
It was said that he asked them to provide details of the traditional BJP voters living in their respective regions. Singh reportedly asked them to provide all such information completely to him by Sunday. Despite Singh’s strong message, the dispute over the poll expenses have intensified. Sources said Yadav has been trying to pacify the disgruntled leaders. He has called the office-bearers to district party office and may try to calm them by offering some money.
Speculation is also rife that an influential leader of the party in Kanker district has allegedly collected huge amount of money of his own although the party has formed a committee to collect such donations.The people linked to election management have allegedly sought a reply from this leader after complaints. The said leader has also allegedly confessed that he has collected donations of his own.
But the difference between the figures given by him and the information collected from donors appears to be highly mismatched. This has fueled a debate among the leaders inside the party.