Cong urges dissidents to support party candidates in MP

Bhopal, Nov 8 (UNI) Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee President Suresh Pachouri today urged party dissidents to support nominated candidates to help the party return to power in the poll-bound state.

''The Congress will secure a majority,'' Mr Pachouri claimed while interacting with newspersons here.

The Congress leader said that 131 fresh faces were given tickets after deliberation with party leaders and on the basis of survey reports based on the criteria of victory. In distribution of the tickets, the party allotted 43 per cent to Other Backward Classes and also accorded due weightage to Rajputs, Brahmins and Vaishyas.

To a query, he admitted that the Nationalist Congress Party -- a Congress ally -- was supposed to be given two seats, but later it was decided that it would contest a lone seat. The draft of the party manifesto was ready and would be released at an ''appropriate'' juncture, he added.

Mr Pachouri accused the ruling BJP of involving in mineral scams running into several crores of rupees during its five-year rule.

''Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, along with Mineral Resource Minister Laxmikant Sharma, ayed large-scale illegal mining overlooking government norms and indulging in theft of royalty,'' he said, while demanding a high-level inquiry.

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