Cong urges dissidents to toe the line 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 this poll-bound state.

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

The Congress leader said that 131 fresh faces were given tickets after deliberation with party leaders and on the basis of survey reports of criteria of winability. In distribution of 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 give two seats but finally it was decided that the NCP would contest a lone seat. The draft of the party manifesto was ready and would be released at an ''appropriate'' juncture.

Mr Pachouri accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of involvement in mineral scams running into several crores during its five-year rule.

''Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, along with Mineral Resources 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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