Congress general secretary Deepak Babaria said leaders who left the party for their “vested interests” would not be taken back in the organisation in Madhya Pradesh, where polls are due by the year-end.
Ahead of the assembly polls, the Congress has started a “ghar wapsi” (home coming) campaign to bring back leaders who left the party for different reasons.
Babaria, in-charge of the party affairs in Madhya Pradesh, however, made it clear that not all those who left the party will be allowed to come back.
“We are in talks with different leaders who are willing to come back into the party fold. But, most of the party workers are of clear view that those who left the Congress due to their vested interests should not be taken back into the party. I also support this view,” he said.
The AICC general secretary said, “Those who deceived the party would not be taken back. The decision about other leaders would be taken on merit.”
After 2003, when the BJP came to power in Madhya Pradesh, some prominent Congress leaders left the party. These included Chowdhary Rakesh Singh Chaturvedi, Bhagirath Prasad and Rao Uday Pratap Singh.
Replying to a question on election strategy, Babaria said the party would focus on the assembly seats where it has not been very strong in the past.
Potential candidates at such seats would be sounded out about poll preparations much before the elections, he added.
