6 Congress MLAs offer to quit for Ajay Singh

BHOPAL: As many as 6 newly-elected Congress MLAs offered to resign and vacate their seats on Thursday to make place in the state assembly for senior leader Ajay Singh.
Ajay Singh, who was leader of the opposition in the previous assembly, lost from his traditional Churhat seat, which he had represented six times. BJP’s Sharadendu Tiwari defeated Singh by 6,402 votes.Ajay Singh leads the faction of his father Arjun Singh, who was a Congress stalwart in the state. He was appointed the leader of the opposition twice and was minister for panchayats in the Digvijaya Singh government from 1998 to 2003.
In the morning, first-time MLA from Gadarwara constituency, Suneeta Patel announced: “I am happy having been elected with a margin of 15,363 votes. But if Rahul bhaiyya (Ajay Singh) is not in the assembly, it would be a great loss. I can only work for the development of my constituency, but he will work for the whole state.”
Patel said she has already written the letter of resignation so that Ajay Singh can contest from Gadarwara in a bypoll. “I am absolutely certain that people of Gadarwara will elect him. He has not lost, but was targeted and purposefully defeated because he as leader of the opposition brought the ‘No Confidence Motion’ against BJP government,” she said. In the evening, former chief minister Digvijaya Singh and Ajay Singh had a closed-door meeting. After the meeting, Digvijaya Singh told reporters: “I was here just for a courtesy visit.” Another first-time MLA Vinay Saxena from Jabalpur North seat said: “Ajay Singh has been our idol and a source of inspiration. People of Churhat have made a big mistake and I am willing to step-down.”
Neelangshu Chaturvedi, Congress candidate elected from Chitrakoot, has also offered to vacate his seat for the former leader of the opposition. “The Churhat loss is most unexpected. I have offered to leave the seat for Rahul Bhaiyya,” said Neelangshu.
Speaking to TOI, he said “I am honoured by their feelings for me. But I had one target that Congress party should form the government. I am happy that I could make my little contribution during my tenure as leader of the opposition. Personal victory or defeat is no issue here.”
Three others including Surendra Singh — independent MLA from Burhanpur, Alok Chaturvedi from Chhattarpur and Sumitra Kasdekar from Nepanagar also volunteered to make way for Ajay Singh.