You're welcome but no guarantee of ticket: Congress tells BJP, BRS turncoats in MP, Telangana

AICC secretary and in-charge of Madhya Pradesh CP Mittal told ETV Bharat on Tuesday that leaders of rival parties joining Congress are welcome in the party however it does not mean that they have been given a guarantee that they will automatically get a ticket. -- Reports ETV Bharat's Amit Agnihotri.

New Delhi:Leaders from the rival parties are welcome but there is no guarantee of a ticket, the Congress on Tuesday said in a stern message to the BJP and BRS functionaries who have joined the party over the past weeks.

“A lot of BJP leaders have joined the Congress over the past weeks. Most of these leaders have come to us as they were not respected in the BJP and did not see a future in the saffron party. We welcome them as they have agreed to conform to the Congress ideology and leadership. But that does not mean that these leaders have been given a guarantee that they will automatically get a ticket,” AICC secretary and in-charge of Madhya Pradesh CP Mittal told ETV Bharat.

"If there is a situation where we have two front runners in a particular seat, preference will be given to our worker who has been fighting it out on the ground for years. In case, we don’t have a strong candidate for a given seat and there is a deserving leader who has come from the BJP, we will certainly consider his or her case. But there is no guarantee of a ticket. Winnability of the ticket seeker will be the main consideration,” he said.

Over the past six months, over 40 senior BJP leaders have joined the Congress. “There is severe infighting in the BJP, especially after the two lists of candidates. Over the coming days, more leaders will rush to join us. We may take them in but again no tickets will be promised,” said Mittal.

Assembly polls in five states Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram will be held later this year but large-scale migration of leaders from BJP to Congress has been witnessed in MP. In Telangana, senior leaders from both the ruling BRS and BJP have joined the Congress recently.

Within the Congress circles, the shift of rival leaders in Madhya Pradesh and Telangana has been compared to a trend that was spotted in Karnataka a few months ago. Ahead of the Karnataka polls in May, a large number of senior BJP leaders including ex-MLAs, ex-MPs, and a former chief minister had joined the Congress, which registered a historic mandate by winning 135/224 seats.

“It is true that we have taken several leaders from the BRS and BJP in Telangana but all these joining are unconditional. Some leaders from these parties wanted to come with an assurance of a ticket but we rejected them,” AICC secretary in charge of Telangana PC Vishnunadh told this channel.

“Yes, there was a rush of ticket seekers in Telangana. It was for three reasons. First, the Bharat Jodo Yatra influence, second the Karnataka assembly polls and third the efforts of the state team. There are lots of pulls and pressures but we are trying to complete the ticket distribution in a smooth manner,” he said.

Congress insiders said the first list of candidates for both Madhya Pradesh and Telangana will be out either by month-end or early October. “We are not rushing with the list even though the BJP has announced two lists for MP,” said Mittal.