In Madhya Pradesh, 39 Congress leaders expelled for contesting against party's candidates

The Congress party in Madhya Pradesh has expelled 39 leaders from its primary membership for six years for contesting the upcoming state assembly elections against the party’s official candidates, a party functionary said. These 39 leaders were expelled from the Congress on the directives of the party’s state unit chief Kamal Nath, a release issued by the party’s state vice-president Rajiv Singh said. These expelled leaders are contesting elections either as independent candidates or on the ticket of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a party statement said. Some of the prominent names against whom the action was taken include former MP Premchand Guddu (Alot), former MLA Antar Singh Darbar (Mhow), former MLA Yadvendra Singh (Nagod), state party spokesman Ajay Singh Yadav (Khargapur), Nasir Islam (Bhopal North) and Amir Aqueel (Bhopal North). Elections to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly will be held on November 17. Though the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is striving to remain at the helm, the opposition Congress is endeavouring to push the saffron party out of power. The polls are important for both the BJP and the Congress in Madhya Pradesh as it will be the first set of elections after the formation of the Opposition’s grand alliance against the BJP before next year’s Lok Sabha polls. The state election will also be a test for current chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan who is facing anti-incumbency. The BJP has been in power in Madhya Pradesh for the last 20 years.