Don't appoint BJP workers to committees, MP ministers told

Deepak Babaria, Congress general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, on Friday warned the party's ministers in the state against appointing BJP workers to various government committees.

He also said, without mentioning the sparring between state Congress leaders, that leaders should be cautious when speaking in public, or they will face disciplinary action.

Babaria was addressing a meeting at Manas Bhawan, the party's office here, for preparation for protests against the Union government's economic policies.

He recently came to know about appointment of a BJP leader by a Congress minister in the state, he said.

The minister told him that the appointment was made on the recommendation by a district Congress committee, Babaria said, adding that he had asked the minister to produce the letter.

Such incidents would be reported to party president Sonia Gandhi, and errant ministers would be dropped from the cabinet in the next reshuffle, he warned.

The Congress regained power in Madhya Pradesh after a gap of 15 years due to long struggle of party workers (so they must get their due), he said.

Bhopal North MLA Arif Masood interrupted Babaria during the meeting when he said that leaders from Bhopal should not hog all posts.

It was the leaders from Bhopal who protested at the chief minister's residence often during the BJP rule, the MLA said.

In apparent reference to factionalism in state Congress, Babaria said leaders would face action if they made statements in defiance of party discipline.

Earlier this month, forest minister Umang Singhar had accused senior leader Digvijaya Singh of running the Kamal Nath government from behind the curtains.

Interestingly, the banner which formed backdrop of Friday's meeting misspelt the state's name as "Madhyadesh". Pictures of the banner circulated on social media.