Cong deserters rewarded with tickets by rivals

The age-old dictum seems to be true for a bunch of party workers who, till some time back, owed allegiance to the Congress, reports Moushumi Das Gupta.

In politics, they say, there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests.

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The age-old dictum seems to be true for a bunch of party workers who, till some time back, owed allegiance to the Congress. Failing to get a party ticket in the forthcoming Assembly elections, they wasted no time in switching camps.

The deserters have been duly rewarded; they have been given tickets by the opposition Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

Prominent among them is Khemchand Gujjar who was a member of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee executive body in 1992. A ticket hopeful, he joined BJP when he realised the Congress would drop him from the list. He has been named the BJP candidate from Badarpur assembly seat.

Another Congressman, Ramji Neta, a ticket hopeful from Badarpur joined Bahujan Samaj Party after the Congress made up its mind to field Rambir Singh Bidhuri from the seat.

Similarly, Bhim Singh, nephew of veteran Congress leader Chaudhary Prem Singh also left the party for BJP after being dropped from the ticket list. BJP has now fielded him from the Deoli assembly seat.

Last in the list of deserter from Delhi Congress is Jitender Singh Shunty. He has joined SAD and has been given a ticket from Shahdara seat.