Congress MLA says vote for me, let party go to hell'

Bhopal: A slip of tongue by a senior Madhya Pradesh Congress leader that made him say, “Let party go to hell”, has landed him in a controversy.

A video in which working president of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) and MLA Jitu Patwari was heard saying “Party jaye tel lene (let party go to hell) while canvassing for support in his assembly constituency of Rau in Indore district in Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday went viral in social media causing huge embarrassment to him as well as Congress.

The provocation for the reported slip of tongue by Mr Patwari was apparently an honest confession by an elderly couple in his area who told him that “We like you, but we are loyalists of another party”, as the exchanges between them recorded in the purported video clip suggested.

The firebrand leader was then heard saying in the clip in his characteristic style, “You just protect my honour…., let the party go to hell”. MP is going to assembly polls on November 28.

Mr Patwari, considered close to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, however clarified that “I meant BJP when I said let the party go to hell”.

“The elderly couple told me they were supporters of another party when I sought their blessings for the polls. I meant to tell them that they should think above party lines and support me, since they liked me”, he explained.

Mr Patwari however described the video a conspiracy by ruling BJP to malign his image in public. “My party and my electorates are my family”, he said.

BJP national general secretary Kalish Vijayvargiya took a potshot at Congress following the development, saying, “Congress leaders work for their self interests, while Bharatiya Janata Party people work for their party”.