By IANS
Raipur : Senior politician Vidya Charan Shukla’s statement that he will work to stop the Congress party’s unwanted elements grabbing power if the party wins the assembly polls has created a stir in the Congress fold with three party legislators rushing to Delhi to report the matter to the central leadership.
When reporters at a crowded press conference Saturday asked Shukla about his old rivalry with former chief minister Ajit Jogi, he said: “I will work for the party’s unity but I left the Congress in 2003 only because of Jogi and this time I will ensure unwanted party leaders do not grab power if the party wins in the assembly polls due next year.”
Shukla, who rejoined the Congress last month, added: “My top priority will be to unite the party in the state but my battle against unwanted elements in the Congress will continue.”
Tribal leader Jogi outsmarted Shukla in the race for the chief minister’s post in November 2000 when the state was carved out from Madhya Pradesh. Shukla’s statement was widely reported in local newspapers Sunday and viewed as a sign of his intention to revive his rivalry with Jogi.
Three party legislators led by former home minister Nandkumar Patel left for New Delhi Sunday evening with newspaper clippings of Shukla’s statement to report the matter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Dissident activities within the Congress in Chhattisgarh has picked up all of a sudden with three different anti-Jogi factions now rallying behind Shukla, who was elected as a Congress MP nine times.
In a 90-member state assembly in Chhattisgarh, Congress has 35 legislators. Besides the leader of the opposition Mahendra Karma and deputy leader of the opposition Bhupesh Baghel, all other 33 legislators are said to be Jogi loyalists.
As many as 33 party legislators did not even turn up to receive Shukla last week at Raipur airport when he landed here for the first time after being rehabilitated by Sonia Gandhi.