As many as five lok Sabha candidates pulled out from a crucial meet on Monday called by the Chhattisgarh unit of the Congress to discuss the chances the party stands in the State which went to lok Sabha polls in three phases.
What came as a big disappointment for the Congress was the absence of former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi and Union Minister of State Charandas Mahant.
While Jogi contested from the Mahasamund seat, Mahant was party candidate from Korba lok Sabha constituency.
The party had invited all its 11 lok Sabha candidates and senior office bearers for the meeting.
Apart from Jogi and Mahant, other candidates who skipped the meeting include Karuna Shukla who contested from Bilaspur, Ramdev Ram and Satyanarayan Sharma who contested from Surguja and Raipur respectively. Sources said many of those who skipped the meet were away from the State and hence they could not make it.
The six candidates, who attended the meet, presented their views one by one before the State leadership. Congress State president Bhupesh Baghel and leader of the Opposition TS Singh Deo gave them a patient hearing, sources said.
Majority of the candidates complained about the shortage of funds and non-cooperation of local workers and office bearers. However, they expressed their confidence that they will win the election.
Congress sources said that at least three party candidates provided details about party colleagues in their respective constituencies who worked openly against the Congress.
Sources added that Baghel and Singh Deo have taken a serious view about back-stabbing by senior party leaders in certain seats and will report the matter to the party high-command soon.