Bhopal, Feb 22 (IANS) As many as 99 delegates of Madhya Pradesh Congress, including state unit chief Kamal Nath and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh will be attending the All India Congress Committees's (AICC) plenary session in Chhattisgarh's Raipur.
The three-day long conference -- from February 24 to 26 -- will be the first after the grand old party elected its president, Mallikarjun Kharge.
The Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has forwarded 200 names to the AICC for nominating delegates for the session, out of which, the state has received a list of 99 delegates. Several prominent leaders were excluded from the delegation list, due to which disappointment were expressed by some senior party leaders.
However, the MPCC came out with a statement that those key party leaders who were excluded from the list, are likely to be given major responsibilities in the state unit.
"As per the procedure, the selection of delegates is done on the basis of the number of block and district level committees of the state party unit. For this purpose, a list of 200 names was forwarded to AICC, however, only 99 delegates were approved," Madhya Pradesh Congress said in an official statement.
In 2017, Madhya Pradesh Congress had 135 delegates for the plenary session. The state leadership was expecting the same number of delegates this time also, if not extended. However, this time, the number of delegates from Madhya Pradesh was reduced from 135 to 99.
"Last time, a total of 135 delegates were from the MP Congress, and it could happen because the number of block committees were expected to be increased and hence the number delegates were increased. But, this time, AICC has decided not to make delegates from proposed block committees, due to which, the number of delegates came down from 135 to 99 only. However, those who were not included in the delegate list, are likely to be given key responsibilities in the state unit," MP Congress further said.
Meanwhile, a controversy within the state Congress broke out not because of excluding some party leaders from the delegates list or the number of delegates getting reduced from 135 to 99, but mainly because of having names of several father-son pairs.
The delegates list include the name of Kamal Nath and his son Nakul Nath (Congress MP from Chhindwara), Digvijaya Singh and his son Jaivardhan Singh (ex-minister and MLA from Raghogarh), former Union Minister Kanti Lal Bhuria and his son Vikrant Bhuria, who is president of youth Congress unit of Madhya Pradesh.
The ruling BJP took jibe at the Congress saying the delegates seem more like 'family-gate'. "The list of Congress delegates seems more like a 'family-gate'. All senior Congress leaders are focusing more on securing the political future of their new generation. The MP Congress now seems more like a family party," senior BJP leader and MP's Home Minister Narottam Mishra said.
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