The Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress has suspended 60 of its office-bearers, including nine district presidents, five state vice-presidents and 14 general secretaries, for remaining absent from the Congress's 'Vote Chori' rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on November 1, IANS reported from Bhopal on Wednesday, in a report also carried by NationPress.

Source: IANS via The Freedom Press

The disciplinary action was taken on November 3 in compliance with directions from the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) national leadership, which viewed the absence of the office-bearers from the rally as a serious act of organisational indiscipline. According to a notification issued late on Tuesday, all 60 office-bearers have been suspended with immediate effect until further orders.

The district presidents facing action belong to Maihar, Agar, Neemuch, Burhanpur, Anuppur, Guna, Barwani, Chhatarpur and Bhind. The order stated that the action was being taken to ensure organisational discipline and compliance with directions issued by the national leadership.

Action amid the 'vote theft' campaign

The development comes amid the Congress's nationwide campaign against alleged irregularities in electoral processes and voter lists. The party has been raising allegations of 'vote theft' — allegations, not established findings — and questioning the functioning of the Election Commission, particularly over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Election Commission has maintained that the revision exercise is aimed at ensuring accurate electoral rolls by removing duplicate and ineligible entries.

The November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan was attended by senior Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, along with leaders of other Opposition parties. The Opposition used the rally to demand greater accountability from the Election Commission and raise concerns over alleged manipulation of electoral rolls.

The suspension of the Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress functionaries comes at a time when the Congress is seeking to strengthen its campaign on electoral transparency through nationwide organisational mobilisation, and the action has brought the functioning of the party's state-level organisation and its compliance with directions from the national leadership into focus.