Blooper! Congress elects BJP leader to top post in MP
What's the story
The Congress, already at its lowest point across India, faced an embarrassing situation when it elected a leader, now with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to a top post in Madhya Pradesh.
The grand old party quickly changed the decision but not before implying how far it is from ground realities.
Naturally, the "elected leader" also took jibes.
Here's what happened.
What happened
Leader, a Jyotiraditya Scindia loyalist, left Congress months ago
On Friday, polls for the General Secretary of Jabalpur (Uttar) unit of Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress were held and Harshit Singhai was elected.
However, Singhai had left the party in March when Jyotiraditya Scindia orchestrated a rebellion that led to the ouster of former Chief Minister Kamal Nath's government.
Subsequently, BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who was unseated by Nath, took the office.
Details
He said he had filed his nomination 'three years ago'
About the recent development, Singhai said he was left confused when he received tons of congratulatory messages.
"The most laughable is the fact that no one was interested in the polls and I was elected General Secretary. I left the Congress on March 10 with Scindia ji. I filled in my nomination for the Youth Congress polls three years ago," he told reporters.
Nomination
Singhai informed about withdrawing nomination, party didn't notice
In 2018, the elections for Youth Congress were delayed as Assembly polls were impending.
"I had submitted my resignation after the switchover. When the nomination (for YC polls) was called in November, I also sent an email to the party and informed them that I am withdrawing my nomination," Singhai said.
He added that the party didn't notice his resignation or email.
Reasons
Apparently, Congress asked Singhai to explain why he left Congress
Singhai claimed that it was Congress which had asked him to send an email regarding the withdrawal of his candidature.
"They asked me to send an email explaining the circumstances in which I left the party. I had written to Kamal Nath and (former President) Rahul Gandhi," he said.
He pointed toward the state of affairs, saying those who left Congress are being elected.
Response
Spokesperson slammed Singhai for deploying tactics to gain publicity
Meanwhile, MP Youth Congress Spokesperson Masood Mirza said Singhai was retorting to cheap tactics to gain publicity.
"The elections did not take place physically; people were chosen online according to the number of votes, due to which Singhai was declared a General Secretary," Mirza said.
He added Singhai's appointment was canceled as soon as the error was brought to his notice.
Quote
Mirza said Singhai didn't inform election committee about switching sides
"We had issued notices asking workers to come forward and inform us if they had switched parties or would want to withdraw their nominations themselves or any worker who had some information could inform the election committee. But neither happened in Singhai's case," Mirza added.