Rahul Gandhi Reaches Out to MP Districts Heads, Warns of Infighting Before Nov Elections

Bhopal: In a bid to forge communication with the party’s grassroots level functionaries ahead of the state assembly elections, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday called up some of the district presidents in MP to discuss poll preparations.

Gandhi urged them to go to polls with full vigour and not let factionalism hamper the party’s chances in assembly elections.

Ahead of the call on Wednesday, the party district heads had become anxious as the high command had already intimated them about the possible telephonic conversation Gandhi wanted to have with them and asked them to be available for the phone call in the morning.

Concerned about the possible queries, the local leaders had also prepared notes about their election preparation measures.

On Wednesday, Gandhi did call the districts heads, but not all of them. “Rahul ji enquired about party organization in Mandla and asked me to strengthen it ahead of the polls,” Mandla Congress president Sanjay Singh Parihar said.

“He also said that the ruling party has created an atmosphere of fear but the party workers must not worry as the Congress would struggle on the roads as always,” said Parihar, quoting the party chief.

Indore district Congress president Sadashiv Yadav said that Gandhi also enquired about party membership and strategies at the local level. Issues such as factionalism and organization strength also came up for discussion during the brief telephonic chat.

Singrauli district head Tilakraj Singh, Chhatarpur district head Manoj Trivedi, Morena district head Rakesh Mawai, Tikamgarh head Mahesh Yadav and Datia district head Nahar Singh also spoke with the party president.

Gandhi has summoned several districts heads to New Delhi for further discussions.

The party chief’s focus on keeping factionalism at bay vindicates the fact that MP Congress is wary of the infighting that hampers the party’s prospects ahead of elections.

Besides, ticket distribution was also discussed during these conversations. Gandhi reportedly asked the district chiefs to make sure all the senior party leaders are present during major events.

Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza appreciated the gesture of the party chief in “reaching out” to the cadre, denying that it had had anything to do with factionalism.

Bhopal BJP MP Alok Sanjar hit back at Gandhi and accused him of aping Amit Shah’s style of functioning, claiming that Shah was already in talks with even booth-level party workers.