Congress Fears Indore LS Poll-Like Episode In Datia, Takes Caution

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Congress is gearing up to deal with any episodes, like the cancellation of Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination for the Rajya Sabha election and the party candidate's defection to the BJP before the Lok Sabha election in Indore.

They are taking all precautions for the by-election in Datia.

The party is mulling over a candidate for the Datia by-election, but it fears lest the contestant should join the BJP.

So, the party is weighing all options before selecting a candidate.

The party may field a dummy candidate together with the actual candidate so that it may have a contestant in case of any problem.

The names of the son of former legislator Rajendra Bharti, Anuj Bharti; wife Shobha Bharti, Awdhesh Nayak, who defected from the BJP to the Congress; and former Ghanshyam Singh are aspiring for a ticket from the party for the by-election.

The Congress Party's LS candidate Akshay Kantibam withdrew his nominations and gave a walkover to the BJP in Indore.

The incident tarnished the state party's image before the top bosses. Natrajan's nominations were also cancelled on flimsy grounds.

The Congress suspects that after the announcement of the party candidate for the Datia by-polls, the BJP may make such efforts to make the contestant join the ruling party.

According to a senior leader of the party, after the unreasonable cancellation of the nomination of the party's RS candidate, it has become clear that the BJP can do anything. In this situation, the Congress will take every step with caution to confront the ruling party in the by-election.

The Election Commission has declared the date for the Datia by-election. The nomination will be filed until July 13.

The BJP is set to field former minister Narottam Mishra, but the Congress will select a candidate on the basis of his loyalty to the party.