The Congress party in Chhattisgarh is continuing to face the heat ahead of the lok Sabha polls from disgruntled party workers who have recently deserted the party.
Vinod Goswami, who recently resigned from the post of Rajnandgaon District Congress president, questioned the allotment of tickets to Karuna Shukla, and Deepak Karma besides some other contenders. Addressing a news conference here on Sunday, Goswami said that he would support BJP and its Rajnandgaon lok Sabha candidate Abhishek Singh during the polls but made it clear that he is not going to join the BJP. He also questioned the ability of State Party President Bhupesh Baghel to lead the party to a remarkable victory in lok Sabha elections.
Goswami was of the view that senior party leader Satyanarayan Sharma was dragged unnecessarily into Raipur lS candidature related controversy. According to him, the decision to give lok Sabha ticket to Deepak Karma and Karuna Shukla would create more resentment within party organisation. Congress could have given lok Sabha ticket to some other deserving candidate in Bastar because Dehuti Karma is already legislator from the Karma family. The decision to grant lS ticket to Karuna Shukla, would also offend many grass-root workers, he maintained.
Goswami further questioned the relevance of Congress fielding Kamleswar Verma from Rajnandgaon lok Sabha seat despite his name not forwarded by district organisation. Explaining about his resignation, Goswami pointed out that he had served the party dedicatedly over the decades with commitment and devotion. However Baghel accepted his resignation within no time and there was no attempt on his part to know the reasons behind this decision, he said.
According to Goswami exit of Motilal Sahu from the party was justified. For reasons unknown, discontentment within party is growing under Baghel's leadership, he said. Goswami said that it was still unclear to him why Pratibha Pandey, daughter of veteran Congress leader and late Union Minister Vidya Charan Shukla, was denied ticket from Mahasamund seat.