Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Breaking away from the traditional oath-taking formalities, newly appointed Congress district president Vipin Wankhede and city president Chintu Chouksey assumed charge on Thursday with a show of strength on the streets.
Braving heavy rains, the two leaders, along with nearly 3,000 supporters, staged a protest outside the collectorate over alleged vote tampering.
The event marked their first public appearance after assuming office. However, many sulking leaders including former minister Sajjan Singh Verma and Sobha Oza, did not participate in the protest.
Before heading to the collectorate, the leaders, drenched in rain, paid floral tributes at Ahilya Bai Holkar statue at Rajwada, followed by signing the official register at Gandhi Bhawan.
Later, they marched toward Moti Tabela, where a rally on the issue of “vote theft” was organised. The sudden downpour forced organisers to set up an additional waterproof pandal as large crowds, including women, Youth Congress and NSUI workers, joined the demonstration.
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari and state in-charge Harish Chaudhary were present on the stage, lending weight to the protest.
Leaders such as Kripashankar Shukla, Ravi Joshi, Balamukund Gautam, Rajesh Chouksey, Archana Jaiswal, Raghu Parmar, Shaikh Alim, Sach Saluja, Yashaswi Patel, Amit Patel, Mahak Nagar, Yogendra Morya, Sarfaraz Ansari and others marked their presence, signaling strong support for the new leadership.
Wankhede and Chouksey submitted a memorandum on alleged vote rigging addressed to the collector. Due to the massive turnout, an SDM accepted the memorandum at the protest site itself.
Dissent comes to fore
Several senior leaders, who have expressed dissatisfaction with the new appointments—including Sajjan Verma, Shobha Oza, Satyanarayan Patel, Dipu Yadav and Pintu Joshi—remained absent. Outgoing presidents Surjeet Singh Chadda (City Congress) and Sadashiv Yadav (District Congress) also skipped the event.
Patwari, addressing the gathering, justified the organisational reshuffle, stating it was carried out with the approval of the party’s central leadership. He also targeted the BJP, alleging that in Bihar, it was a BJP worker who had insulted the Prime Minister’s mother.
Posters accusing Patwari of manipulation pasted
The day began with controversy when posters against MPCC chief Jitu Patwari surfaced on the closed gates of Gandhi Bhawan. The posters accused Patwari of manipulating the internal selection process and ignoring genuine feedback while making new appointments.
The images soon went viral on social media, reportedly shared by disgruntled factions within the party. Congress officials, however, dismissed it as a mischievous act carried out early in the morning to malign the party leadership.
